A group of Alberta post-secondary education institutions, including the University of Lethbridge, launched an initiative on Monday to educate staff and students about how to respond to an active shooter.
“An active-shooter scenario at an Alberta campus is an unlikely event, but it is a critical exercise to ensure that our campus community understands how to react should such an incident occur,” says University of Lethbridge Executive Director of Campus Safety, John O’Keeffe.
The Campus Alberta Risk and Assessment Committee (CARA) has produced a powerful short video that depicts a dramatization of an active shooting scenario.
It’s a scary reenactment that is all too real in today’s world.
“The key messages are get out and hide, last resort you might have to fight,” explains O’Keeffe.
Officials with the university say while the event is unlikely to happen, it’s a critical exercise now after the muliple school shootings that have happened over the last few years. The latest this past Friday when a man killed 6 people who attended a california college.
“It is our convocation week Thursday and Friday so we will have thousands of parents and young children here and students and staff. This is not an unusual situation. We are a very public place and we need to protect our public,” said Michael Mahon, President of the University of Lethbridge.
Along with the University of Lethbridge, partner institutions include Concordia University College, MacEwan University, Mount Royal University, Norquest College, SAIT Polytechnic and the University of Alberta. The group consulted with police experts during the development of the materials, which are available to all post-secondary institutions across the province on a cost-recovery basis.
Comments