School Safety Training

Course Objectives

• To increase understanding of the tragic issue of youth suicide, the risk factors that can lead to suicide, and the prevention of suicidal ideation and behavior in youth
• To increase knowledge of the warning signs, so that teen peers are better prepared to identify and get help for their peers who may be at risk
• Identify response roles and strategies based on whether you are a teacher or a counselor.

Description – DID YOU KNOW? . . .

• 50% of Students receiving D’s and F’s report a feeling of sadness and hopelessness
• 20% of these Students stated that they thought about the idea of attempting suicide
• The most predictive factor for suicide across a life span is having made a previous attempt as the act of the attempt get added to their mental repertoire of coping strategies

This 60-90 min. seminar is designed to be educational to parent attendees so that they are more aware of behaviors that indicate their child may be at risk or that they may know someone who is at risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior. Lecture discusses statistics related to suicide attempts and how attempts can be looked at as opportunities to intervene and save lives. Additionally information related to suicidal ideation, bullying/cyberbullying, risk factors for teen suicide and warning signs for suicide will be discussed with opportunities for Q&A available by teachers and counselors. Additionally response strategies based on whether they are a teacher or counselor are discussed as well as establishing a mitigation plan for the at risk student.

Educational lecture and audio-visual are an important part of this seminar for parents.

“Worse kind of REGRETS . . . those things that you DIDN’T do that you wish you would have done!”

Assembly Format

Course Objectives

• To increase understanding of the tragic issue of youth suicide, the risk factors that can lead to suicide, and the prevention of suicidal ideation and behavior in youth
• To increase knowledge of the warning signs, so that teen peers are better prepared to identify and get help for their peers who may be at risk

Description – DID YOU KNOW? . . .

• That suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults
• That in 2013 over 180,000 youth between the ages of 10-24 were hospitalized for self-inflicted injuries?
• That 8% of high school student reported having attempted suicide one or more times in previous twelve month period.

This 45 min. assembly format seminar is designed to be educational, motivational and inspirational to student attendees who may be at risk or may know someone who is at risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior. Lecture discusses statistics related to suicide attempts and how attempts can be looked at as opportunities to intervene and save lives. Additionally information related to suicidal ideation, bullying/cyberbullying, risk factors for teen suicide and warning signs for suicide will be discussed with opportunities for Q&A available by students.

Inspirational and motivational lecture and audio-visual are an important part of this seminar for students.

“In a society that profits off of SELF DOUBT learning to appreciate and love others, love life and love yourself is a REBELLIOUS ACT.”

Prevail!™ for Schools – Active Shooter Preparedness for Middle School/High School Personnel E-Learning Course

One of the objections by leadership to training staff and team members is that by doing so might create fear within the organization. What should be understood is that fear already exists on this topic as a result of media broadcasts and social media. Additionally, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of where fear comes from – FEAR comes from having a problem WITHOUT a solution. In other words providing practical and simple education on this problem actually REDUCES FEAR not increases it.

PREVAIL! can help your organization comply with OSHA’s General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) – requiring employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” PREVAIL! will raise your personal awareness when it comes to potential workplace violence threats and/or an active shooter event. A trained response will save lives…yours and those around you!

Here’s a breakdown:

PREVAIL! was designed in easy-to-use modules. Organizations using PREVAIL! have several implementation paths –

The PREVAIL!™ for Schools Active Shooter Preparedness for Middle School/High School Personnel E-Learning course:

• Typically, each training session starts with PREVAIL!™ the Movie. This 13 min. dramatic video sets the stage for the session by engaging participants quickly – emotionally – by watching an active shooter event unfold in their workplace. The purpose of this movie is to engage the viewer to relate to these types of incidents occurring and although they don’t realize it while watching it there are clips from the movie utilized later in the program to illustrate learning points like “normalcy bias”, “3 OUT Response Model”, etc.
• Next, Preparing to PREVAIL!™ module is an introduction to the the session by discussing key learning points in an active shooter event as well as learning objectives for the program.
• PREVAIL!: The OUT Actions™ goes into detail about the 3-OUT Intruder Response Approach.
• The last module of the course then discusses the psychology and motivation of the of attacker in PREVAIL!: Understanding the Adversary™

The participant then has the opportunity to apply what they have learned in several computer based interactive scenarios where their responses are critiqued.

The participant then completes the course by completing an assessment to measure their understanding in applying what they have learned and all results are stored and the participant who successfully completes the assessment will then be issued a certificate.

Prevail!™ for Schools – Active Shooter Preparedness for Early Childhood/Elementary School Personnel E-learning Course

One of the objections by leadership to training staff and team members is that by doing so might create fear within the organization. What should be understood is that fear already exists on this topic as a result of media broadcasts and social media. Additionally, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of where fear comes from – FEAR comes from having a problem WITHOUT a solution. In other words providing practical and simple education on this problem actually REDUCES FEAR not increases it.

PREVAIL! can help your organization comply with OSHA’s General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) – requiring employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” PREVAIL! will raise your personal awareness when it comes to potential workplace violence threats and/or an active shooter event. A trained response will save lives…yours and those around you!

Here’s a breakdown:

PREVAIL! was designed in easy-to-use modules. Organizations using PREVAIL! have several implementation paths –

The 2 hr. PREVAIL!™ Active Shooter Preparedness for Employee course:

• Typically, each training session starts with PREVAIL!™ the Movie. This 13 min. dramatic video sets the stage for the session by engaging participants quickly – emotionally – by watching an active shooter event unfold in their workplace. The purpose of this movie is to engage the viewer to relate to these types of incidents occurring and although they don’t realize it while watching it there are clips from the movie utilized later in the program to illustrate learning points like “normalcy bias”, “3 OUT Response Model”, etc.
• Next, Preparing to PREVAIL!™ module is an introduction to the the session by discussing key learning points in an active shooter event as well as learning objectives for the program.
• PREVAIL!: The OUT Actions™ goes into detail about the 3-OUT Intruder Response Approach.
• The last module of the course then discusses the psychology and motivation of the of attacker in PREVAIL!: Understanding the Adversary™

The participant then has the opportunity to apply what they have learned in several computer based interactive scenarios where their responses are critiqued.

The participant then completes the course by completing an assessment to measure their understanding in applying what they have learned and all results are stored and the participant who successfully completes the assessment will then be issued a certificate.

School safety and the possibility of an active threat or shooter in schools causes parents to have anxious thoughts about their child’s wellbeing – and for good reason. However, there has been tremendous progress for schools taking the initiative to prevent intruders from gaining entry into school buildings, in addition to their partnership with law enforcement regarding an understanding of each party’s response to a reported threat. This partnership between schools and law enforcement is enhanced with the involvement of the community, especially parents, grandparents, and guardians of students.

This 2-hour seminar is presented in a community forum approach and includes a question and answer section for parents, teachers and the public to provide their comments and concerns. We find this interaction helps bring peace of mind and inform parents/guardians of everything school districts are doing to ensure the safety of their students, what to expect from school/district leadership if an incident were to occur during the school day, and learn what their responsibility is from a prevention, response and recovery perspective for everything from a natural hazard to a man-made event.

Topics include:

• Are schools safe?
• The threat of intruders in our schools
• Review of the U.S. Secret Service/ Department of Education Safe Schools InitiativeReport and lessons learned
• How to help prevent incidents
• How to report potential threats to law enforcement or school leadership personnel
• Bullying prevention tips and what to do if your child is bullied
• Your role if there is an incident at your child’s school
• An overview of school safety and lockdown plans

COST – $1295 per person
Who is this for? – School selected and vetted certified staff, administrators and non-certified staff

Pre-Qualification Requirement – You must already have your Texas LTC license to be certified Texas Government Code 411.1901 “Protection of Children Act Guardian Program”.
The Strategos International 5-Day Texas School Guardian Course IS NOT only just another firearms course.

We have found that when you teach someone to just use a hammer, every problem becomes a nail. We focus first on how to respond to a threat, protecting the classroom without a gun and build from there. We are NOT trying to make school staff a law enforcement officer to go after the attacker but instead to “Guard” or defend space to better protect people exposed to a threat. We recognize that no one solution fits every school and can customize any course for a specific client based on their needs. Every community must ask and decide the following question: “what are we willing to do to protect our children?” and then work from that point forward.

This five-day course starts with the premier Strategos International intruder response model teaching our Active Shooter/Intruder Response Training (ASIRT) course for unarmed response. This four-hour course covers background and history, lockdown and lockdown failure plans and our acclaimed “3-Out” response model recognized in the “Final Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety: Presented to the President of the United States December 18, 2018.”

We will discuss proper weapon concealment, carry options, and selecting a high-quality holster, then conduct dry technical movement with a firearm, ready positions and moving in or through crowds with a firearm.

There will be extensive force-on-force drilling with projectile based training systems that teach decision making under stress, proper movement, maintaining weapons platform, controlling stress, and many more needed principles and skills for deadly force engagements. This will be video recorded and reviewed to assist students understand what they perceived was happening and what reality was to correct their behavior.

Two days of live fire training in a “crawl, walk, run philosophy” to take each student much farther in the time available. We focus on principles, tactics and techniques that will lead to success in an armed encounter. Participants learn not only how to survive but to PREVAIL in protecting their people/students from an armed threat. We believe that proper training achieves both “Capability that breeds Humility.” In other words, by achieving a higher level of skill you will be able to better maintain composure while under duress. Through managing fear the capable responder will operate more confidently, more quickly, and make better time compressed decisions in the stressful and chaotic environment of the actual emergency.

It will cover basic firearms handling, functioning and break down of the weapon, loading and unloading procedures, drawing and recovering to the holster, shooting on the move, reloading and emergency reloading techniques, immediate action drills for malfunctions and much more. The final day will be force-on-force scenarios as the “Guardian” staff member protecting the classroom.

Strategos International is a licensed through Texas Private Security Bureau to provide training and consulting via Texas License #CO6265601.

Cost – $997 per person

This 5-day course trains and certifies law enforcement and security professionals to train and consult with school personnel in countering the threat of active shooters and violent intruders. Graduates will be certified to teach the following Strategos courses for two years.

Courses for certification

• 2 or 4-hour Intruder Response for School Personnel
• 90 min. Parent and Community Role in Responding to the Threat of School Active Shooters

All trainers will receive the following tools:

• Instructor Handbook with Lesson Plans, Bibliography and Source Documents
• 4-Hour Intruder Response for School Personnel PowerPoint in electronic format
• Support Videos for PowerPoint Presentations in electronic format
• Student Handout for School Intruder Response courses in electronic format

Topics Covered

• Behavior vs. Profiling – Why Profiling Doesn’t Work
• School Active Shooter Incidents – Evolution of School Attackers, Law Enforcement and School Personnel Response
• Mental Health Correlation to School Attacks
• Violence in Movies and Video Games and the Correlation to the School Shooter
• Review of 2002 Safe Schools Initiative Study
• Operation Environment Analysis and Assessment
• Observing and Eliciting Behavior
• Body Language Indicators for Concealed Armed Individuals
• Approaches, Interviews and Impressions of Student Voluntary Encounters
• Access Control and Credential Management
• Incorporation of a De-escalation Philosophy
• Targeted Conversations
• Lockdown and Lockdown Failure Protocols
• What to expect from Law Enforcement’s Response to School Shooters
• Medical Response to the School Attack
• Suspicious Object Response (SOR)
• Preparation and Communication – Educating Parents and The Community on to their Roles
• Coping with the Crisis After Action – Physical Response and Emotional/ Psychological Response

This 5-day Active Shooter Intruder Response Training (ASIRT) Course trains and certifies select law enforcement and security professionals, school staff representatives, Fire and EMS personnel from the community to train all school personnel in countering the threat of active shooters and violent intruders.

We have seen great success in communities that have incorporated instructors from all aspects of the community teaming together to present this information. Individuals who have satisfactorily completed the course will be certified to teach the 4-hour program described below.

Instructor Course for certification: 4-hour Active Shooter/Intruder Response Training for School Personnel

4-Hour Active Shooter/Intruder Response Course
This 4 hour course bridges the gap between responding officers and all school personnel including certified staff, administrators and classified staff during an active shooter or intruder situation. The training assists school personnel in their ability to prevent, report and protect themselves and students from an active shooter or intruder during the critical moments while law enforcement is responding. It also educates them on what to expect from officers once they are on
site.

It includes:

• An overview and historic examination of school shootings and lessons learned for schools and law enforcement.
• An in-depth analysis of lock down procedures for threats inside and outside of the building.
• What to do if the lock down fails.
• The 3 Out NON-LINEAR Intruder Response Model: Lock OUT, Get OUT, Take OUT
• How to secure various types of doors, including locking, layering and reinforcing the locking mechanism
• Access control and visitor management
• Reporting an active or unknown threat intruder
• Understanding behavioral precursors to violent behavior
• Recognition of risk indicators
• Identifying and using secondary exit points
• When to get out and why
• How to fight back in case of a lock down failure, including using improvised weapons
• Recognizing and understanding the phenomenon of Normalcy Bias and how to overcome it
• Understanding sensory-based decision making and how it helps or impedes a proper response to a crisis

The four-hour class will be divided into classroom instruction, a walk-through of the school to demonstrate safety and security principles and practical, hands-on scenarios to put the lessons into action.

All ASIRT trainers will receive the following tools:

• Instructor Handbook with Lesson Plans, Bibliography and Source Documents
• 4-Hour Active Shooter and Intruder Response for School Personnel Power Point
• Support Videos for Power Point Presentations
• Student Handout for Active Shooter Intruder Response for School Personnel

Once certified as an ASIRT Instructor other certifications can be obtained that can positively impact your community:

• Parents Conference: The Parent and Community Role in Responding to the Threat of School Active Shooters
• Bus Drivers Awareness, Safety and Intruder Response
• Workplace Violence and Intruder Response
• Crisis Casualty Care for School Personnel

The ASIRT instructor certification is good for two years. Most students attend the re-certification course and add additional certifications referenced above. Please contact us for more information regarding the initial certification and continuing education for additional certification.

COST – $997 per person

This course bridges the gap between responding law enforcement officers and school staff, administrators and other personnel in school active shooter situation.

The 4-hour half-day sessions include:

The training assists school staff in their ability to prevent, report and protect themselves and their students from an active shooter during the critical moments they are waiting for police to arrive. It also educates school staff about what to expect from officers once they are on site. The course is also designed to provide school resource officers with the necessary skills and mindset to properly engage and respond to an active threat.

• An overview and historic examination of school shootings and lessons learned for schools and law enforcement.
• An in-depth analysis of lockdown procedures from threats inside and outside the building.
• What to do if lockdown fails.
• The 3 Out Response Model: Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out
• How to secure multiple types of doors with and without locks, including locking, layering and reinforcing
• Access control and visitor management

Access control and visitor management

• 2 hr. PowerPoint lecture
• 1 hr. instructor demonstrations – Q&A
• 1 hr. Scenarios, lessons learned and critique by instructor

Although schools are becoming more secure, buses are still often vulnerable targets. However, with driver education, buses can be safety zones for students.

School bus drivers being the only adult on a bus that can respond effectively already realize that they have a significant responsibility and may already be anxious about this topic. The key to reducing anxiety with our school transportation personnel is to educate them on the topics of awareness, safety and intruder response. Once they are educated they really do see that a bus can be secure because of its mobility and design if they are in an aware state of mind, know what to leverage their environment to their advantage and look for and know how to respond to threats that may present themselves outside of the bus or do not present themselves until they are already inside of the bus.

Topics include:

• Why are school and mass transit buses a target?
• Awareness when approaching bus stops
• Identifying threat areas at bus stops
• What makes buses difficult to board
• Mobility of buses as a deterrent and mitigation response
• Intruder Response – What if the intruder makes it on the bus?
• Response differences to different types of threats

This course bridges the gap between responding law enforcement officers and school staff, administrators and other personnel in school active shooter situation.

The 2-hour half-day sessions include:

The training assists school staff in their ability to prevent, report and protect themselves and their students from an active shooter during the critical moments they are waiting for police to arrive. It also educates school staff about what to expect from officers once they are on site. The course is also designed to provide school resource officers with the necessary skills and mindset to properly engage and respond to an active threat.

• An overview & historic examination of school shootings and lessons learned for schools and law enforcement.
• An in-depth analysis of lockdown procedures from threats inside and outside the building.
• What to do if lockdown fails.
• The 3 Out Response Model: Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out
• How to secure multiple types of doors with and without locks, including locking, layering and reinforcing
• Access control and visitor management

Agenda of training

• 45 minute PowerPoint lecture
• 45 minute instructor demonstrations – Q&A
• 30 minute scenarios, lessons learned and critique by instructor

Almost all acts of school violence are preceded by behavior indicators that staff members and fellow students should be aware of. Additionally, information related to the importance of reporting information that they become aware of is discussed.

This training will educate those that attend as to the benefits of recognizing concerning behavior and reporting this information, whether it be through identified reporting or anonymous reporting methods.

Topics Covered:

• Direct vs. veiled threats
• Repeated threats or statements
• Self-harm vs. violence statements
• Body language indicators or armed persons

This course is for school nurses, teachers, administration personnel, maintenance/facility staff and faculty. No previous medical training is necessary.

This course will give you and your staff the skills and tactics you can use to save lives and dramatically change the outcome for a critically injured person in less than 60 seconds. When the crisis event occurs, medical first responders are trained not to be present in the danger area until the scene is safe and secure, this could take up to an hour or more.

When a medical emergency occurs, success or failure will depend on the person on the scene, not the professional first responders. Crisis Casualty Care is not a basic first aid course. The concepts presented are based on the most current and innovative techniques currently in use by the U.S. military as dictated by the Tactical Combat Casualty Care model as well as civilian EMS trauma guidelines.

The 8-hour full-day session includes:

• What To Do When the Shooting Stops
• Airway Management
• Hemorrhage Control Devices
• Thoracic and Abdominal Trauma
• Basic Medical Equipment and Kits
• Self-Rescue and Partner Rescue
• How to Perform a Physical Exam
• Operating in Low Light
• Sensory Deprived Assessment
• Managing Sensory Overload
• Performing a Hasty Rescue
• Evacuation Platforms for Rescue
• Logistics and Equipment Required:
• Comfortable clothing suitable for physical activity, movement and simulated rescues
• Knee pads and work gloves
• Hand towel
• High-intensity flashlight that will fit in your pocket (if available)

Strategos International has created doctrine and training for “Behavioral Pattern Recognition™ (BPR) for the School Violence”. Strategos has extensive experience in training over 275,000 school, faith-based,healthcare and workplace organizations related to real, practical and effective solutions in 3 phases of “active shooter & intruder response” crisis incidents . . . PREVENTION, RESPONSE and AFTER ACTION.

Strategos’ combined experience makes this course a must attend for SCHOOL personnel (administrators, teachers, staff) and LAW ENFORCEMENT personnel (SROs, Supervisors & Front Line Officers).

“Behavior Pattern Recognition & Assessment for School Violence” course primarily focuses on the PREVENTION phase of active shooter incidents. This course DOES NOT focus on trying to establish a “profile” but rather “behavioral patterns” that can be recognized in advance as well as socio-economic risk factors that contribute to “avenger” behavior” escalation and boundary probing behavior by the attacker. RECOGNIZING “behavioral pre-cursors” is just part of the equation to preventing these incidents. APPROACHING, INTERVIEWING (passive & targeted), DE-ESCALATION strategies for at risk students or persons that are exhibiting risk indicators is also a significant part of this course through education and practical exercises. A smaller portion of the course provides an overview of a few RESPONSE and AFTER ACTION strategies related to lockdown, lockdown failure and after action response.

The successful participant will have the ability to serve on a “School Behavioral Threat Assessment Team” to objectively determine whether a risk of violence is non-existent, low, medium or high. Additionally, they will be equipped with information and tools to develop a risk reduction mitigation plan.

Topics Covered:

• Behavior vs. Profiling – Why Profiling DOES NOT Work
• School Active Shooter Incidents – Evolution of School Attackers, Law Enforcement and School Personnel Response
• Mental Health Correlation to School Attacks
• Violence in Movies & Video Games Correlation to the School Shooter
• Review of 2002 Safe Schools Initiative & 2008 S.S.I. Bystanders Study
• Operation Environment Analysis & Assessment
• Observing and Eliciting Behavior
• Body Language Indicators for Concealed Armed Individuals
• Approaches, Interviews and Impressions of Student Voluntary Encounters
• Access Control & Credential Management
• Incorporation of “De-escalation Philosophy” throughout BPR Methodology
• Targeted Conversations
• Lockdown & Lockdown Failure Protocols
• What to expect from Law Enforcement Response to the School Shooters
• Medical Response to the School Attack
• Suspicious Object Response (SOR)
• Preparation & Communication – Educating Parents & The Community as to their Role
• Coping with the Crisis After Action – Physical Response & Emotional/Psychological Response