Hearing about a school shooting always opens a wide range of emotions for us hear at TAC*ONE, from discussions with colleagues and past students to opinions on the incident. Today there was a school shooting at a suburban high school in Chardon Ohio. Details are still being released but it sounds like some good decisions were made that perhaps saved lives today.
First we must say that our we send our heart felt and deepest condolences to the victims and families involved and to the entire community of
Chardon that has been turned upside down today.
School faculty members are trained to teach, not act as law enforcement. But there are things that we can do to prepare you for such a school shooting incident. When confronted with an active shooter, there are often only split seconds to clear through the adrenaline pumping through your body and make a decision that can save your life, your students, your colleagues.
It is imperative today more than ever that school administration and teachers are trained to the best of their ability to make fast acting critical decisions. When we teach our School Faculty Active Shooter Training we discuss some of the school shootings that we have personally responded to in addition to some of the more known cases nation wide. There are lessons to be learned from all of these incidents and in the days and weeks ahead there will be opportunities to learn from the school shooting today at Chardon High School. Having a deeper understanding of all of the elements beyond the initial school lock down can help a school faculty member be more prepared in the case of such an incident.
It is just as important for law enforcement agencies and first responders to dive into active shooter training for school shooting type incidents and beyond. The scope of the crisis changes deeply when we enter a middle, high school or college campus and it can be critical for police and sheriff departments to include high level active shooter and SWAT training to all tactical teams.
While we can never answer the Why, we can be best prepared for the What Now?
edited 2/28/2012 – We are deeply saddened to hear that there have been additional deaths in the Chardon High School shooting. Our thoughts continue to go out to the families of all of the victims and the entire community.
