A number of people have requested permission to share
this post on their blog. PLEASE DO! Everyone who works with children
needs to know there are things they can do to minimize the loss of life
in crisis situations. Please share this post any way you can. Repost it. Tweet it. Facebook it. Email it. Print it for those who don’t use digital media. Use
it to start discussions with this who make the decisons regarding
school safety in your school. Please include a link back to this post so
Kris can answer any questions that people may have.
My name is Kristofor Still (@kris_still).
As you have probably guessed by now, I am married to Beth Still, who
is the author of this blog. Before I dive too deep into this guest blog
that Beth has asked me to write, I feel you need to know who I am and
the level of experience I possess in my fields of expertise.
I have been in Law Enforcement now for almost 19 years; the last 13
years have been with the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Department in
Nebraska. I have been a SWAT team member for the last 11 ½ years and a
SWAT sniper for the last six years. I am also one of the department’s
two firearms instructors. In May of 2012, I was given a great
opportunity as I was one a select few from across the state who were
able to gain a certification as an Active Shooter Response Instructor. I
now teach a two day class to area Law Enforcement Officers along with
my Sergeant, Troy Brown and Scottsbluff Police Officer and fellow SWAT
team member, Ian McPherson.
As most of you probably know by now, today was one of the most
horrific days in the history of the United States. A killer walked into
the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and killed 20 children
and 6 adults. Of those killed, a majority of them were Kindergarteners.
When something like this happens and innocent children are killed, it
tears at the hearts of a nation. Destroying what we as parents hold
dearest to our hearts shock us to the core. It makes us realize how
fragile life really is and how one crazed, sick person can take it away
in the blink of an eye.
As I mentioned above, I am one of three instructors in our county
that teach active shooter response to our area Law Enforcement
Officers. Because of this, my wife knows that I am passionate about
making sure that our officers are prepared both mentally and physically
to go in and meet this evil head on and terminate it as quickly as
possible in order to stop the killing.
Like most parents across our nation today, we talked at great length
when Beth arrived home from school about what we can do as Law
Enforcement Officers and Educators to stop this from happening. Beth
came to me because she knows that I have also in the past gone to two of
our area schools and provided them in-put on ways the school and
teachers can protect themselves and the children. The sad thing about
all of this is that my advice fell on deaf ears. I know that neither
school followed through with any of the recommendations provided to
them. I believe the reason that nothing was done was two fold. First
of all, too many administrators fall into a comfort zone and genuinely
believe that this kind of evil will never happen here. The second
reason is because of the all mighty dollar. In both schools that I went
to, I talked about purchasing certain items that could be used to aid
teachers in protecting and or keeping intruders out of their rooms in
the case that they were unable to escape. I felt that in both cases, I
lost them once it came down to spending money.
I am often asked by people and teachers what they need to do in the
case of active shooter in the building or school in which they are
located. I start off by telling them to follow the acronym A.D.D. This
stands for AVOID, DENY, DEFEND. I tell teachers, administrators, law
enforcement officers, and citizens the same thing.
AVOID: Escape the scene as quickly as possible. If you are able to run, do so until you are sure you are in a safe place.
DENY (entry): If you unable to get out, barricade yourself in a
room. Pile all of the furniture and heavy items in front of the door as
possible and then quietly hide in the room in an area that would
provide cover and concealment from an active shooter who wants to try to
shoot into the room. Remember that an active shooters main goal is to
kill as many people as possible to provide the greatest shock factor to
his or her audience. They do not like to get hung up on a closed and
locked door. This will slow them down too much for them to effectively
accomplish their mission or goal. Most likely, they will move on.
DEFEND: If you are unable to escape or secure yourself in a safe
room, you need to fight for your life. Find any items that you can use
as a weapon. These are items of convenience such as a fire
extinguisher, coat rack, trash can, chair, etc. If you are able to,
find others in your same position that are of the sound mind and body to
assist you in fighting for your life as well as the other innocent
people who could fall victim to the senseless killing that is happening.
Another major problem that I am seeing in our schools is that our
teachers are given a policy or a flip chart to follow in times of an
emergency. This may work if you are talking about a fire drill or
tornado drill, but teachers need leeway in their decision making when
they are dealing with an active shooter. Most teachers are by nature
known to be rule followers. This creates problems as they tend to fall
back on a flip chart or policy and ignore that sixth sense about what
they should do. The way I describe this to our new law enforcement
recruits is by telling them that if something doesn’t seem right, it
probably isn’t. Learn to follow your sixth sense and do what you feel
is right.
Early on in this post, I spoke about certain in-expensive items that I
recommended these schools purchase for each teacher or each room.
Below is a list of these items that I recommended to them and am now
recommending to you.
1) Tactical door wedges. These can be found on-line and
typically cost between $15 and $20 a piece. These secure the door to
the floor from inside the room, so the door can be permanently locked.
If done properly, the only way you can open the door is to tear it down
with an axe or chainsaw.
2) A claw hammer with a long handle. These can be used as both a
weapon to fight with or a tool to break and rake windows to aid in
escape if your room has exterior windows.
3) Medical kit to include a tunicate and a clotting agent.
Remember that the first responders that are entering the building are
not there to provide medical attention to those that are injured. They
by-pass the injured and going straight to the threat so they can stop
the killing as quickly as possible.
4) Rope or fire escape ladders. To aid in escape through an
outer window if you are on the second or third floor of a school or
structure.
5) Emergency blankets. These can be used to help comfort the
wounded or to throw over the broken glass in a window pane prior to
escape.
6) Cell phones or emergency radios for each classroom.
Communication is key to any law enforcement officers or tactical teams
arriving on scene. If you are able to provide pertinent information to
police dispatch, you can aid in response time by providing the locations
of the shooter(s) inside the structure.
7) A box, tote, or five gallon bucket to hold all of these items as they are stored in a safe place inside the classroom.
As you can see above, these are not high priced items. Push your
administrator to purchase these for each classroom and tell him or her
why you feel it is important. If they refuse to help your school, find
ways to make this happen on your own. Some of the items above may be
lying around your house or garage and could easily be transported to
your school. The rest that needs to be purchased could easily be
justified as inexpensive life insurance policy.
As an educator you are responsible for protecting your students if at
all possible. Too many times in these cases of school shootings, there
were red flags that many noticed, but failed to report until after the
unthinkable happened. If you see or hear something that you consider to
be red flag with a student, report it. Start by telling an
administrator or counselor. If this fails and you believe they pose a
true threat, talk to one of your trusted law enforcement officers.
In closing, I want you to ask yourself this; could you live with
yourself if you failed to prepare, act, or report a possible future
threat that resulted in the death of a student, wife, husband, son,
daughter, grandparent or co-worker. You owe it to yourself and your
students to be their first line of defense by educating yourself and
making good sound decisions!
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