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Classroom
One of many high school classrooms.
My wife is a schoolteacher and is just starting her 23rd year in the classroom. As one of my primary responsibilities, I have been training people in active shooter preparedness for over a decade. I spent the majority of my last six years as an FBI agent traveling across the state, speaking to law enforcement agencies, schools, churches, and businesses about active shooter awareness.
Since retiring from the FBI, active shooter preparedness has been at the heart of my consulting work, leading me to become part of the leadership of the Active Shooter Prevention Project. Preparedness is not just a part of who I am; it’s also a key aspect of my mission—to help YOU be better prepared.
Consider these four tenets to better preparedness:
Knowledge enables preparedness.
Preparedness encourages Awareness.
Preparedness and Awareness build Confidence.
Confidence enables Decisiveness.
RUN-HIDE-FIGHT
For over a decade, we’ve discussed Run–Hide–Fight. It’s akin to the Stop, Drop, and Roll model of fire response, but with a crucial difference. Stop, Drop, and Roll can extinguish a fire, but Run–Hide–Fight doesn’t stop the violent threat. We need to add substance to this basic concept, creating a detailed plan that enables purposeful and decisive action in the face of danger.
RUN – Where do I run? When would I run? Where would I run to and why? What are the areas of cover and concealment? Do I understand the difference? Am I prepared to adjust on the fly?
Always remember: Your first and best option is to create as much distance as possible from the threat.
HIDE – Where is my best option to hide? What do I do when hiding? Do I know what physical resources are available? Am I ready to immediately transition to fight?
Fight: Am I mentally prepared to engage in a fight for life or death? Do I recognize that it will not be a fair fight? Am I ready to embrace the survival mindset, and am I willing to do anything it takes to get home at the end of the day?
Your First Assignment
It’s time to get more specific about your workday in and around the classroom. Neither you nor your students spend the entire day in a classroom, but let’s start there.
Learn about the structure, emergency functions, and strengths and weaknesses of your classroom doors and windows. Identify the most secure area(s) in your room and consider what you can use to barricade your classroom.
Can your school’s woodshop students make these? If not, can you contact another school’s program if yours doesn’t have one?
Next, examine the tools in your classroom. Every classroom should have a school-provided fire extinguisher. If you also have an emergency bag, dump everything out of it and know what’s in it. Understanding your resources in advance is key to preparedness.
Every single schoolteacher I know spends more money every year on their students and classrooms than tax deductions and salaries allow. I encourage you to do the same with critical incident resources as you can. There’s nothing wrong with having an additional fire extinguisher or two in your classroom, placed in strategic locations.
Not all dangerous circumstances arrive on two legs.
Communications
Finally, consider your communications platforms. Do you have cell service in your classroom? Do you have a landline phone? Do you have to dial 9 to get an outside line to call 911? Do you have access to a handheld radio?
All this may sound very basic, but that’s where we need to start. If you have already done some or all of these things, good for you. Please don’t stop there. Much like the OODA loop made famous by Colonel John Boyd, an Air Force fighter pilot, emergency planning should be continuous.
Emergency planning should be comprehensive, addressing more than just one or two contingencies.
Eight Things
The eight things every teacher should have in the classroom:
1. An extra fire extinguisher.
2. A good, quality flashlight with an extra set of batteries/recharging cord.
3. A tourniquet. Well, actually three: Two CAT tourniquets and one SWAT-T tourniquet.
4. A Stop the Bleed trauma first aid kit. Make sure it includes a set of trauma shears. Buy directly from a reputable manufacturer, not a reseller or platform such as Amazon.
5. A power pack for your cell phone, along with the cord that fits your phone. If you have a radio, test it routinely and keep the battery fully charged.
6. A five-gallon bucket with a wool or fire-suppressive blanket inside. No cotton.
7. A flat (24-pack) of disposable water bottles.
8. A first aid manual. Wilderness first aid manuals are more focused on adapting and improvising when necessary.
Stop the Bleed Kit from North American Rescue.
Knowledge is Power
Arm yourself with knowledge. Take a CPR class and a Stop the Bleed class. Take a Wilderness First Aid class. Learn about indicators of violence and behavioral indicators of concern.
Since you spend part of your workday outside the classroom, develop your plan for each:
· Zero Period: Before Class Start
· Passing Periods
· Breakfast/Lunch
· Recess, Assemblies, Playfields, and Athletic Events
· Bus Duty/Dropoff and Pickup
· Before and After School Programs
Sports stadiums and gyms require their own emergency plans and thoughts.
The YOU in the Equation
The last concept is more introspective. Consider the behavior that you are modeling for your students and your peers. Is your classroom the best equipped on campus in an emergency? If not, why not?
Safety should be part of the discussion.
Back to those behavioral indicators of violence – If you see something concerning, do you take it seriously and report it?
When your school has lockdown drills, do you turn the lights off, close the door, and continue teaching? What does that show your students about the drill’s value? Take lockdown drills seriously, and don’t let them become an eye-roll exercise.
School Resource Officers
School staff and the likely first responders should be training together.
Partner with your school resource officers on campus. Invite them into your classroom to interact with your students. Make the best use of their time and partnership.
A Daily Dose of Preparedness
Consider teaching students critical thinking skills to help them begin their preparedness journey. Integrate emergency readiness into your classroom, including writing assignments and topic prompts. Study natural disasters or social behavior in stressful situations. Discuss stress management. Integrate group learning and student problem-solving discussions. Be proactive and prepare for the future.
