Page 16 - Occupational Health & Safety, October 2018

FACILITY SAFETY
Training for Schools, Churches, Too
Incidents with active shooters also have occurred in churches and schools throughout the United States. An incident at Ohio’s West Liberty-Salem High School in January 2017 hit too close to home for Mike Wisner, whose parents lived just two miles from the school. In that incident, a 17-year-old shot a classmate—he sur- vived—before a teacher intervened and took away the student’s firearm.
“It was scary,” said Wisner, a decorated Army veteran, tactical SWAT medic, and an instructor in tactical medicine. “These kids were running out into cornfields. It was the closest thing to being in the mili- tary I had ever seen. It brought the blind- ers off. If it can happen here, in central Ohio in a high school with just 400 stu- dents, it can happen anywhere. It’s a tick- ing time bomb.”
Twenty-eight people died in 16 active shooting incidents at U.S. schools in the first quarter of 2018. In a Valentine’s Day incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., 17 people
were killed, the highest total at an Ameri- can school since the massacre of 28 people in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.
Jamie Wilson, a district nurse in Licking County, Ohio, said threatening situations arise frequently within schools. “The train- ing is necessary because of the world we live in and the kinds of issues our students
face,” said Wilson, who travels around the entire county to help students. “We deal with emotional, physical, and psychologi- cal trauma. You’re always wondering if it’s going to be you or your school next.”
Teachers and administrators in Wilson’s district took training, which she said helps extend the safety net if medical treatment is needed in case of an attack. “By having this training, now I’m in a community of people who know how to survive an active shoot- ing situation. If you’re in Licking County, you have a pretty good chance at surviving a shooting,” she said.
Silverback’s training classes are led by Troy Lowe, a SWAT Medic Team Leader and Tactical EMS Coordinator. He is also the inventor of The Barracuda, an intruder defense system that has become popular within many U.S. schools, churches, busi- nesses, and factories. The locking device is manufactured by The BILCO Company of Connecticut.
The Barracuda saw sales surge by 431 percent in the first quarter of 2018, com- pared to the first quarter in 2017. It is de-
Self-adhesive Anti-Slip Tape and Line Marking Materials
Contact Heskins with your safety requirements today!
Heskins LLC, 500 Grant Avenue, Dock 40/41, East Butler, PA,16029 Www.heskins.us E mail@heskins.us T 877 900 8359
www.heskins.us
877-900-8359
Follow us on:
Untitled-3 1
8/23/18 1:12 PM
16 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2018
www.ohsonline.com
Circle 11 on card. See us at NSC, Booth 4912