Armed Aggressor
The Corona Virus (Covid-19) may have us sidelined for now, but when we do open back up and return to school and work, will we return to the potential for escalated acts of violence? Chances are yes! as our society will be charged with anxiety, grievance, fear and stressors like never before. We must be prepared for that and as indicated by the Secret Service Report in 2019, many attacks in schools have occurred upon return from extended periods away from school. Being prepared for an armed aggressor is no easy task and having an effective “Prevention Program” should be first and foremost. But having a plan in place in the event of an armed aggressor is also a requirement. Choosing the right program for you is critical and should be taken seriously.
There are so many news articles and stories in the headlines lately that honestly scare the heck out people when it comes to student safety and having to deal with school shootings. It is a sad reality but school shootings are going to continue, or at least until we adopt an early warning prevention program that we have been advocating for over the last several years. Until then, we must discuss “Armed Aggressor” survival programs and which one is best for you and your school. There are several options out there to consider, but how do you know which is the right program for you. Do you want a realistic simulation in which people pretend to shoot guns in your school? Are you wanting to teach your students how to fight an armed aggressor? What information should you consider when evaluating a program for your school? There are so many questions around this decision and it may not be an easy choice, but when you read the headlines about teachers and students getting hurt and suffering from anxiety as a result of these trainings, one thing is clear and that is that you need to evaluate all options.
The good thing is that you have options for training, exercises or drills that can be done on site with teachers, staff and students. But how do you know if they will work for you? How often do you have to perform the training for it to be retained by the student or teacher? How do you teach survival to those who are visually, hearing or physically impaired or disabled? These are growing questions, not only for schools but for the workplace, houses of worship, the hospitality industry, hospitals and many other industries. Do you have an Armed Aggressor training program that even addresses those who are visually, hearing or physically impaired? If not, what is your strategy? Sadly some people answer this question by stating that not everybody will make it out. At Securable Alternatives, that is not an option!
As stated before, there are a lot of hands on training programs that involve armed aggressor realistic simulation with shooting blanks, Nerf guns, and other had to hand simulation tactics. If these work for you and your students, parents and teachers, then continue with them. If you are wondering what other options are out there that don’t raise anxiety and instill fear in people or cause PTSD, the answer is yes, there is another option!
We, as people, have a built in natural instincts that help us more often than we realize. When you stop and think about it, from the time we were born until now, we have used our senses to learn nearly everything in our lives, including how to survive. There is also an amazing benefit to using our senses in situations like armed aggressor and that is they are available to everyone, even those with impairments! We recently conducted a training on the Observe | Navigate | Escape program for an association of visually impaired persons and the response from the group was overwhelmingly positive. For many in the group they felt like that had they now had an option to empower themselves during a crisis and actually not have to worry about being “left behind”. One of the great things that they also discovered was that this program was not only effective for armed aggressor events but also great for natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes and other severe weather events. Including those with impairments is critical, but so is including those students who are in grades K-5 as well as those teachers who do not want the aggressive trainings. The Observe | Navigate | Escape approach does address all age groups and works to reduce fear and anxiety. With some creativity and innovation, we are able to demonstrate survival strategies and practice scenarios that are effective for all ages.
So, as you evaluate your options, consider everyone who will be impacted by your decision for armed aggressor training and ask yourself if you are truly meeting the needs of all those in your care and protection.
Consider this, the Department of Homeland Security has embraced this approach and included it in their Final Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety in 2018. As the creators of this program, Securable Alternatives is focused on helping students and teachers survive in any crisis, either human-caused or by natural disaster. We made this program to provide options for those that are excluded from other survival training programs out there today.
Do your homework and explore all options and consider one that takes advantage of something that all people use everyday, their natural senses!