Canadian Safety Reporter

4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 CSR | July 2014 | News training, she said. "Back then, i didn't even move when i heard a gunshot, because i didn't know it was a gunshot. now, i would react very differ- ently to a loud noise — i would investigate it, i would tell some- one and, truthfully, that can make a difference," she said. An injured survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting, Ander- son is now an advocate for active shooter education as the found- er of the Koshka Foundation for Safe Schools, based in Washing- ton, D.C. Active shooter education, and the training it encompasses, can make a critical difference in a shooting incident. "it's hard to predict how big of a difference," said Anderson, add- ing that every case is different. "But it's better to try than to not." A group of post-secondary in- stitutions in Alberta would tend to agree. The Campus Alberta risk and Assurance Commit- tee (CArA) recently released an educational video to provide training on what to do should an active shooter — or any danger- ous intruder — pose a threat. The video, titled Shooter on Campus: Know you Can Sur- vive, was created after extensive research and in collaboration with edmonton Police, said Philip Stack, associate vice- president of risk management at the University of Alberta in edmonton. "Through that process, we were able to get endorsement from the edmonton Police Ser- vice of this video, as well as a group called the Association of Alberta Chiefs of Police," he said. As of June 8, 14 of Alberta's 26 post-secondary institutions had purchased a licensing agree- ment for the video. The rollout process will differ depending on the school. The video involves a drama- tization of an active shooter entering a school campus, and takes viewers through the three options — run, hide or fight back. "There are only three basic options that one person should exercise," said Barry Cochran, manager of security and emer- gency services at SAiT in Cal- gary. "When there's an escape op- tion available, the best option is to run out — remove yourself from the danger, to get as far away from the incident as you possibly can… The second op- tion is to hide or barricade in the event that people can't escape," he said, adding that the third option — and last resort — is to fight back. "it's important to get the three options out there… because do- ing nothing is not an option," he said. "you don't want to become anybody's victim." The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, said Stack. Though it is unfortunate that this kind of training is nec- essary, it has the potential to help save lives, he added. A few viewers did express some discomfort at the disturb- ing nature of the content, but Stack said the dramatization — which uses realistic gunshot sound effects — was designed with two things in mind. "one, we wanted to make sure that it had enough impact to at- tract a young student, and keep them engaged long enough to hear the three core messages in the video," he said. "Secondly, we wanted to — to the extent possible — replicate what you might feel like in that particular situation, so if you ever found yourself in that situ- ation, to better prepare you for what it would be like, and the thinking process that you need to go through." it can put people in an unset- tling position to think about be- ing in that type of situation, said Anderson — but being prepared can save lives. "While it is something that is extremely horrifying for people to think about, the consequenc- es of not training for, or even thinking or planning (for these incidents) beforehand, are dev- astating," she said. We already practice fire drills, and some schools practice lock- down drills, said Cochran — and in a real crisis, that training is what people fall back on. "you don't rise to the occasion in the event of a life-threatening situation, where you're able to make rational decisions — you fall back to the level of training you've had in these areas," he said. Still, it's important to keep in mind that shooting incidents are extremely rare, said Stack. "our campuses are very, very safe places, and the likelihood of this kind of event occurring is extremely low. however, the consequences, obviously, can be significant. And we just felt that it was important that we empower our staff and students with this type of information so if they were ever found in that unlikely situation, they are pre- pared... to protect themselves." There have been eight high- profile deadly school shootings in Canada since 1975, according to the CBC, and others that were considered domestic assaults. There have been significantly more in the United States, but still, they remain relatively rare. More Americans are struck by lightning every year than killed in rampage shootings, accord- ing to the LA Times. The training is no reason to become paranoid or to over- emphasize the possibility of a shooting incident occurring, said Anderson. "(But) i do know from my experience how quickly things like that can happen, (and of- ten) when they happen, people kind of shut down. So the more we can do to educate them be- forehand… it helps people put themselves in a mental state to be able to act better." The training also has applica- tions in other workplaces as well — the lessons aren't limited to a school or campus environment, said Stack. "it is designed for an active shooter situation. however, we believe that these lessons and the messages within the video — get out, hide, or fight, as a last resort — that those are equally applicable to an office environ- ment," he said. And we're likely to see more of this sort of safety training mov- ing into other workplaces, said Cochran. "i think from the attention we've got from this video in an academic setting, you'll see it next move into the workforce, office setting — because this is just one place where these events have occurred." 'SHOTS FIRED' < pg. 1 Active shooter training applicable to any workplace Credit: Christinne Muschi (Reuters) In 2006, a gunman dressed in a black trenchcoat opened fire at montreal's dawson college, killing one student and injuring 19 others.

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