Any number of casualties inside a school is difficult to comprehend, but leaders in active shooter prevention say communities must move beyond the “it can’t happen here” mentality and prepare.
Early reports suggest the Parkland, Florida school did just that and local experts say it likely saved countless lives.
Another school shooting - this time Stoneman Douglas High School - at least 17 dead, more injured in Parkland, Florida.
It was the 18th school shooting in 2018 according to Everytown for Gun Safety, leaving law enforcement and school officials asking - how can we stop the carnage?
“if you wait until the situation takes place, you’re not prepared,” says retired Brighton Police Chief Mike Kinaschuk, who now works for Templar Life Safety.
Templar Life Safety in Brighton offers training - and just as important - tools to minimize deaths in shootings like today’s, tools like door barricades can defend against attack.
And Templar’s rapid response vest can deter or defeat a threat.
But Pete Raciti says time and time again at shootings, its the time between the threat being over and medical professionals getting in that comes at a significant cost.
“At most all of them, the victims bled out because of the delay in time from police clearing the scene, which they have to clear before they allow EMS in, to those victims getting treated,” Raciti says.
The solution he says is trauma kits in every school.
But the best tool they say is being ready for not if, but when.
“Can we stop it completely, no you’re not going to stop it. I’ve said i don’t know how many times, if you can shoot the Pope, if you can shoot the president, you can shoot anybody,” says former Detroit Police Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt. “I don’t care what precautions you take so, I’d like to say its getting better but every one of these things from Sandy Hook till now, it makes you want to cry especially if you are a parent.”
The professionals i talked with say having these kind of tools can change the dynamic of school shootings.
But it doesn’t matter if you have them if you don’t know how to use them, so training, practicing, is absolutely essential to not necessarily stop, but minimize these kinds of shootings.
