Doing nothing is not the answer
By Theresa-Marie Wilson ~
An increase in armed attacks on schools, businesses and public arenas nationwide in recent years has brought about a change in safety precautions with new focus on how to respond during violent encounters.
More than 80 people recently attended the Active-Shooter Training for Businesses luncheon put on by the Arroyo Grande Police Department and hosted by the Arroyo Grande & Grover Beach Chamber of Commerce.
During an intruder/active-shooter situation, casualties often happen before law enforcement arrives on the scene, and people need to be prepared to protect themselves.
School resource officer Philip Dollman, who developed the training to prepare teachers in the Lucia Mar Unified School District and later modified it to fit different organizations and businesses, conducted the presentation.
“The absolute worst thing you can do is nothing,” Dollman told the sold out crowd.
The most basic groundwork in preparation for dealing with anything from customer escalation situations to an active-shooter emergency plan is to develop a “file system” or recognized code among co-workers.
If a situation feels uncomfortable but not threatening, ask your co-worker to hand you the yellow folder indicating that their support is needed.
“There is a psychological impact when you show unity, and it also makes the other person feel better and not like they are alone on an island,” said Dollman.
A blue folder means call the police department’s cold line and request a walk through or for officers to make direct contact with the customer.
“You might feel like maybe you should do something, but you aren’t sure, I’m telling you, it is probably a good idea,” said Dollman.
Asking for a red folder means call 9-1-1 and should be used if there is verbal abuse, increasing anger, throwing things, banging on objects, threatening, or grabbing someone and shaking of slapping them.
“If you are comfortable rendering aid and helping to get your co-worker to safety, then you go out and do that,” said Dollman. “That is an individual (decision). If you know that you are not capable of that, stay inside and call 9-1-1.
The file system applies to almost every situation, but is taken off the table should a worst-case scenario unfold.
“If you see a guy wearing fatigues carrying a bag of weapons or you someone committing acts of violence—all bets are off,” said Dollman. “There are no rules, call 9-1-1, get out, get away.”
A study conducted by the FBI found that from 2000 to 2013, 486 people were killed and 557 people were wounded in 160 incidents—the numbers do not include shooters.
Active shooter incidents are becoming more frequent—the first seven years of the study show an average of 6.4 incidents annually, while the last seven years show 16.4 incidents annually, according to the study.
Additionally, The largest percentage of incidents—45.6 percent—took place in a commercial environment (73 incidents), followed by 24.3 percent that took place in an educational environment (39 incidents). The remaining incidents occurred at the other location types specified in the study—open spaces, military and other government properties, residential properties, houses of worship, and health care facilities.
“An active-shooter is somebody that is trying to kill as many people as they can,” said Dollman. “They might go into a place with the intention of getting one person, but will take out everybody they can. There is no pattern, there’s no method.”
There are things to be aware of that could aid in foiling an attack such as the shooter posts something online or exhibits suspicious behavior or tries to recruit another person to participate.
“That’s something that you want to report,” Dollman said.
Should an active-shooter enter a building and escaping the building in anyway is not an immediate option, authorities recommend barricading yourself behind a door with desks, filing cabinets or any object nearby, call 9-1-1—don’t assume someone else has, if someone is wounded leave them where they are until police arrive, silence your cell phone, and hide.
If you have to fight the shooter, use anything you can in the space around you such as a letter opener, a fire extinguisher, scissors or a coffee carafe.
“Don’t ever give up,” Dollman said. “Remember you are buying time for law enforcement. We are coming… You can’t prepare for everything, but the worst thing you can do is cross your fingers and hope that everything works itself out.”
Should a person come in close contact with the shooter, Dollman advises grabbing the gun with both hands, pining the shooters arm in your armpit and dropping your weight all the way to the ground bringing the gunman’s arm with you. Failing that, placing a finger behind the trigger will prevent the gun from firing.
Currently, plans are in the works to provide a more comprehensive version of active-shooter training to all the schools in the Lucia Mar Unified School District.
Plans are in the works to provide a more comprehensive version of active-shooter training to all the schools in the Lucia Mar Unified School District.
“I can tell you for a fact that the schools, especially the high school and all the other schools that have received this talk, are much safer now,” Dollman told Coast News. “There are many phases of learning, some people might have nothing or they have one thing which many opportunities to fail. If something were to happen, school have many opportunities to alert each other, they also know what they are up against and now have a plan which they feel they can accomplish to keep help everybody safe and try to survive a worst case scenario.”
To view the FBI study, visit www.fbi.gov.