Friday, Aug. 10, 2018, the FIU police held an active shooter training for all Florida International University Graham Center staff. The FIU police have preformed this training for all of the buildings on Campus since the beginning of the summer. FIU is a well known, open-area campus, it is vital that the staff know what to do in situations of emergency.
The day began with a presentation on all the different options there are of evacuating, in the case that an active shooter is in the building. Some of the options included hiding, fighting, or running. The police also prepared us for what to do if someone is injured and emphasized the importance of knowing where our exits, first aid kits, and AED are located. They discussed how to use tools like a tourniquet, which helps stop excessive bleeding by applying pressure. The presentation was not only helpful but prepared the Graham Center staff for the exercise that came next.
The FIU police created a real life active shooter training. The staff members experienced what it would be like to have the active shooter in their own office and in the main hallways of the Graham Center. The pretend active shooter had a real gun but shot blanks at the ground while running in the offices and open areas of the Graham Center. This gave the staff a chance to think about how they could put their training from the previous demonstration to action.
For staff members, like student employee Raquel Carrasco, the fact that the FIU police made it as real as possible took away some nerves on this subject. Carrasco said, “the active shooter training really helped me believe that no matter the plan we make in our heads, we won’t really know the right thing to do, until we are actually in that situation. The training helped me think through all of the different options that I could have chosen to keep safe and to try and not freak out as much in the moment but focus on being safe.”
Other staff members felt the same way as Carrasco, saying that they felt a little bit more confident on how they can stay safe and keep others safe along the way if the situation were to arise.