On Nov.14, Phi Theta Kappa held the very first active shooter preparedness training open for students to attend. Public Safety has done training for faculty and staff before but not for students of Madison College.

The idea of the training came from a project that Phi Theta Kappa did for the Honors in Action Program, where a research project is done and then put into action. The research was done on what different college campuses are doing to make their campuses safer, and active shooter training was done for many campuses. The action was having the training, which consisted of an hour long presentation and an hour long panel discussion where people could ask questions after.

Phi Theta Kappa, Student Health and Public Safety all worked together to put the training together.

“It’s a need to know event that all students should be aware of. Safety on campus and making sure they feel safe and secure on campus and to know resources are available as a teaching tool,” said Denise Holin Student Health Educator of having the training for students.

Starting the presentation officer Nic Tatro gave the stats of it usually takes three minutes before 911 is called when an active shooting starts, and four to six minutes before first officers arrive. The whole event is over in an average of 12 minutes. “These things happen quickly, they’re very dynamic and they’re always changing,” said Tatro

The presentation went through different things that students can do if an active shooter situation happens and broke down past shootings and what could have been done differently for the people involved. The presentation also went through different statistics, those who followed the training like barricading a door were more likely to survive.

Running was the first option, getting yourself out of danger is the most important thing you can do. Don’t try and grab your phone or wallet it’s not worth wasting even the seconds it may take to grab them.

Hiding as an option wasn’t just about staying out of sight but barricading the door to a classroom, making it as hard as possible for a shooter to enter. Tied in with running, look for an escape route. Jumping out of a two-story window and dealing with the fall is a better option that staying in the building, was given as an example. Also keep distance from each other making it harder for a shooter to get group targets.

Attacking a shooter is a last resort and if you do so you must think that the shooters intent is lethal. If you do attack do it with aggression, and don’t fight fair “you’re essentially fighting for your life,” said Tatro

The panel consisted of Public Safety officers, Sun Prairie officers, Andrew Rose part time instructor for the Criminal Justice Program and Blue Mounds Police Chief, and Gerard Xavier from Counselling and College Success.

The hope is that this won’t be the last active shooter training. “We would like to see it perpetuated, we would like to see something every semester or once a year something like that …  It would also give public safety more interaction with students and faculty in that respect,” said Brandy Nobles Vice President of Scholarship Phi Theta Kappa.