By: Alexa Reye, KMTV Channel 3 News
An active shooter alert goes out to students, staff, and police at Bellevue University Friday morning. This turned out to be a false alarm.
But Chief Operating Officer of 88 Tactical, Trevor Thrashers said companies can never be too prepared. “It’s unfortunate but today every company needs to have an emergency response plan, that not only includes fire and weather, and things of the medical nature but it includes an active threat response,” he said.
Thrasher said a simple plan is best. “You can’t make it complicated because people will never remember that under duress,” he said.
Every company needs a different plan, but they should all include basic points. “How do they notify employees that something is going on on campus, how do they liaison with arriving police officers, who meets them, who has a set of keys, what is the rally point plan, what is their escape routes, where are fire extinguishers, where are medical equipment located,” said Thrasher. He encourages every company to get a plan. “If you don’t have a plan there is gonna be a lot of confusion, keep people focused on what they need to do,” he said.
Most importantly Thrasher says every person at the company needs to know their options to escape, hide or fight. “You have to realize that it is occurring and that you have to take action to defend yourself.”