2022 EDUCATION EDITION
SECURING SCHOOLS
Talking with students about school safety
Northeast Metrocom area police departments hold training for o cers and communities to ensure emergencies can be handled as fast as possible.
Training courses 1 Stop The Bleed Training: Participants learn how to apply pressure, pack a wound and use a tourniquet to stop bleeding.
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2 Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training: This is a dynamic force-on-force scenario-based training to prepare emergency responders nationwide for active shooter situations. 4 Active Shooter Incident Management: This four- hour introductory course demonstrates an integrated response to law enforcement and introduces key concepts in hands-on scenarios.
Carrie Proctor is the educational development services director for the Texas Counseling Association. She is also past president of the association, having served in
PHOTOS COURTESY CITY OF CIBOLO
3 Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events: This is designed to provide strategies, guidance and a proven plan for surviving an active shooter event. More than 200,000 civilians have been trained nationwide.
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2018-19, and has 26 years of experience in K-12 schools. Proctor is a certi ed school counselor and a licensed professional counselor.
WHAT FALLS UNDER SAFETY WITHIN SCHOOLS? I think a lot of it comes from your individual child’s concerns. Like, my son started riding the school bus for the rst time last year in eighth grade. And so we had a conversation about keeping track of your belongings, not ashing money around, keeping your cell phone [put away] and just your personal property [and] safety. We also talked about awareness and bullying that could happen. HOW DO WE TALK TO OUR KIDS ABOUT ACTIVE SHOOTERS? I think it depends on the age of the kid how you approach it. A kid who is [up] to [age] 6 is going to need di erent information than a kid who’s a teenager, and the way that they react to these situations [is] completely di erent, too. You talk about being aware of what’s going on around you. You talk about the importance of listening to your teachers. And if a situation is di erent than usual, [talk about] paying particular attention and following every instruction that the teacher says [is important]. With a teenager ... [you can say] that’s di erent. If you see somebody walking by with a gun, you need to get yourself out of that situation, even if it means leaving the school. It’s di erent [depending on] your child’s personality and how they handle anxiety, stress and fear of the unknown. HOW DO WE TALK TO OUR KIDS ABOUT A TRAGEDY WE KNOW IS GOING TO BE ON THE NEWS? [Say something like], “So, hey, something sad happened today, and I want you to know because people will be talking about it. And I want you to know that here are the things that we do at home to keep you safe, and here are the things schools do to keep people safe.” And just listening to them as they react to that [helps]. It’s hard having those conversations. You really have to have your own reaction rst and [take] time to process and think about what happened. It’s also a great opportunity to have conversations about if you see something that doesn’t look right, we need to tell someone. It’s everybody’s job to keep the school safe and to speak up if something doesn’t look right so that they feel a little bit empowered, thinking that there is something that they can do, too. I think one of the hardest things is when you feel hopeless.
SOURCES: AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, C3 PATHWAYS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Active shooter training program
Student Action Clear the hallways and remain in the room or area until the “all clear” is announced. Do business as usual.
Adult actions
SECURE Get inside. Lock outside doors. HOLD Stay in your room. Clear the halls.
Close and lock the door and account for students and adults. Do business as usual.
Bring everyone indoors. Lock outside doors. Increase situational awareness. Account for students and adults. Do business as usual. Recover students from the hallway if possible and lock the classroom door. Turn out the lights. Move away from sight. Maintain silence. Do not open the door. Prepare to evade or defend. Lead students to evacuation location. Account for students and adults. Notify someone if there are missing, extra or injured students or adults. Lead the safety strategy. Account for students and adults. Notify someone if there are missing, extra or injured students or adults.
Return to the inside of the building. Do business as usual.
LOCKDOWN Lock doors, lights o , stay out of sight. EVACUATE Head to the speci ed spot.
Move away from sight and maintain silence. Do not open the door.
Leave stu behind, if required. If possible, bring your phone. Follow instructions.
SHELTER Hazard and safety strategy.
Use the appropriate safety strategy for the hazard.
SOURCE: I LOVE U GUYS FOUNDATION, TEXAS SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER, SCHERTZCIBOLOUNIVERSAL CITY ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
to see, but we have to make sure we are able to work together, because communication is a huge stum- bling block when something like that is going on.” According to Director of Public A airs Linda Klepper, Schertz police, re and EMS departments conduct joint training on active shooter response sce- narios that mirror the Rescue Task Force concept. The RTF dictates that re and EMS personnel will team up with police department personnel to enter a “warm zone” to provide immediate rst aid to injured victims while police address the threat. SCUCISD resource o cers work directly with emer- gency response personnel from the district to develop site-speci c plans and maps that assist during emer- gency responses at schools. Those are reviewed and updated annually to ensure new construction and policies are incorporated. “The relationships that we have built and allowing
law enforcement to come into our campuses and train, I think it has been really instrumental in the response that we have been getting,” Clark said. Both Schertz and Cibolo also subscribe to the concept of an all-hazards response plan, and operations are struc- tured under the National Incident Management Sys- tem working under a uni ed command. “The bottom line is, if you see something that is not kosher, please call us,” Hugghins said. “If we look at it and nd out there was nothing to it, then no harm no foul. But, that one time it looks suspicious because it is suspicious, we would love to have that call rst thing.” Additional reporting by Tricia Schwennesen
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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NORTHEAST SAN ANTONIO METROCOM EDITION • AUGUST 2022
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