[Wasagdu] Active shooter presentation

[Becky Frankeberger]

From:

Jenine Stanley
Consumer Relations Coordinator,
Guide Dog Foundation.

Hi Everyone,



This post may contain triggers for some. I hate to bring up such a negative
and scary topic but as many of you probably heard, we had an active shooter,
actually knife-wielder, on the Ohio State campus here in Columbus, Ohio,
yesterday. It prompted me to ask the police here in the village of Minerva
Park where I live to hold another Active Shooter presentation. They did this
a few years back and I think it's something, like disaster preparedness,
self defense and first aid, that we need to repeat every so often to be able
to remember.



Has anyone else gone to one of these presentations? They are incredibly
helpful at dispelling myths and giving you tools to use should you ever be
in such a situation.



You can then think about how you would handle things with your dog. Has that
ever come up in such a presentation?



If you have not taken part in one, you can contact your local police or city
office that handles emergency preparedness and ask to schedule one. If you
belong to a group, church, blindness related, etc., ask for someone to come
speak on the subject.



The presentations I've attended use the three words, Run, Hide and fight to
describe your options.



Run: get out and away from the sound of gun fire. This might mean grabbing
someone's arm or coat or whatever or giving your dog the command to get
outside. Try to remember where the exits are when going into buildings,
especially places like malls.



Hide: if you can't run away, especially if you can't tell where the shooting
is coming from, hide. Get behind large furniture. Lie down flat and try to
have your dog at a down/stay.



Fight: this is the scariest one for me. Before fighting, think about how not
to get shot. Don't stand in a bunch of people. This just makes a denser
larger target. Stand along the wall that contains the door. Barricade the
door with heavy things or wedge things in under the knob. Then find things
to throw at someone if they burst into the room. Usually law enforcement
will announce themselves so don't worry about hitting friendly people.



Finally, stay wherever you are until someone official tells you it's safe to
move or go back to where you were.



Those were things that stuck with me. What's your experience? Please do
share.

Jenine Stanley
Consumer Relations Coordinator,
Guide Dog Foundation.