Our Blog: Equipping & Empowering

A brick and mortar business wouldn't think of operating without fire insurance. And yet, did you know that a workplace shooting is more likely to happen than a fire? 

The fastest growing type of murder in the United States is workplace violence. Most people are unaware of this reality, which is why the idea of active shooter insurance is just catching on for businesses, schools, and other organizations.

Most people have taken some form of first aid class at some point in their lives. Additionally, many people take first aid courses regularly because their jobs require it, or simply because they want to keep their certification up to date.

First aid training is an important skill to have. It prepares you to take action in a variety of situations. If someone is choking on a piece of food, First Aid training prepares you to do the Heimlich maneuver. Or, if a person has a heart attack and stops breathing, you would utilize your First Aid training by doing CPR.

However, there are a different set of emergency circumstances that could require different training.

For some organizations, such as South Carolina Public Schools, Active Shooter Training Drills are mandatory. They're a task on a to-do list and essentially a box that every school administrator is relieved to check off. 

Depending on what company you work for, Active Shooter Response Training may be mandatory as well. Many organizations are now requiring on-site training, video training, or some form of blended learning for their entire workforce.

It's not a small task. In both scope and importance, Active Shooter Training is a major undertaking. So, how can you be sure you're doing it right? In other words, how do you provide training that's not forgotten as quickly as it's taught? 

In this article, we'll point out training strategies that make an Active Shooter Training course successful, but first, we'll start by identifying some of the mistakes that could be undermining the training you're offering your team.

A question our customers often ask us is, why does ProActive Response Group offer Active Shooter Response Training in video format if hands-on training is so critical?

It's a good question, and the answer is found in the simple fact that not every company is able to provide hands-on training to every member of their corporate team. Two things typically stand on the way:

1. Limited budget
2. Large workforce

When these barriers are stopping a company from providing their employees with Active Shooter Response Training of any kind, we recommend blended learning. 

PRESS RELEASE

Greenville, SC July 31, 2019 – In the fall of 2018, Anderson County District One Schools made what turned out to be a lifesaving investment. They gave every employee the opportunity to take part in Active Shooter Response Training from ProActive Response Group. The training included instruction on how to stop massive bleeding, and the value of the course became apparent on July 22, 2019.

A lot of employers are trying figure out if advanced security is an effective way to protect their employees from workplace violence. Putting your entire workforce through an active shooter response training course seems a little too intense. It's not something employers want to even think about, much less ask their employees to participate in.

Security precautions seem like a much less invasive solution that would accomplish the same purpose: to keep violence out of your workplace. However, there is a difference between making your workplace secure, and training your workplace for safety. Simply put...

• Security reduces risk of emergency.
• Training responds in an emergency. 

All of the security guards, metal detectors, outdoor cameras, and key codes for building entrances cannot beat the effectiveness of first response training. Why? Because security measures ward off potentially violent encounters, but if and when security is breached, your company needs a trained response plan.

Things that make students feel unsafe at school can range from bullying in the cafeteria to an unconcerned teacher in the classroom. In a world where school shootings are an imminent and unpredictable threat, schools must do everything they can to protect students' safety and also make them feel safe.

Creating a safe and healthy learning environment for students is harder than ever, but it is also necessary for their success.

Certain negative experiences at school will deteriorate a student's sense of security over time. Let's discuss some of those experiences so that your school can come up with a plan to make your institution a safer place for your student body.

A school shooting — It's every teacher's worst nightmare. Yet, school shootings have become so common that teachers cannot help but wonder how they might respond if such an event occurred at their school.

But wondering about your response does no good when nightmares become reality. It's critical that schools plan for active shooter events with urgency, training teachers and staff to respond effectively.

A lot of training goes into an effective response, but there are 4 basic things teachers should know in order to be prepared for an active shooter event. 

If you work for a school in the state of South Carolina, or you have a child who attends one, you are probably well aware of the law that was passed last year, requiring all public schools to hold two active shooter drills per year.

Doing the drill is not up for debate, but every public school has some flexibility in the approach it chooses to take in fulfilling the requirement. This flexibility is meant to ensure that every school selects an active shooter training program that best meets its unique needs, but for school principals and other decision makers, that's a lot of responsibility to take on.

What if the drill isn't helpful? What if it scares students and staff? What if it's an absolute mess? What if...

PRESS RELEASE

Greenville, SC April 11, 2019 – ProActive Response Group, a local organization that provides Active Shooter Response Training to schools, companies, religious establishments, and industrial facilities, has received official recognition by SLED for its training curriculum, which is compliant with SLED standards. ProActive Response Group is the first organization in the state of South Carolina to hold this privilege.