WWCC employees, residence assistants participate in active-shooter training as part of the College’s safety-awareness efforts Three-hour session focuses on proactive, as well as reactive, strategies for dealing with campus shooters

WWCC employees, residence assistants participate in active-shooter training as part of the College’s safety-awareness efforts Three-hour session focuses on proactive, as well as reactive, strategies for dealing with campus shooters

ROCK SPRINGS – Western Wyoming Community College faculty and staff, as well as student residence assistants, learned some valuable strategies for safeguarding their personal safety, and that of the campus, in the event of a violent encounter like those that have occurred at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and other institutions in recent years.

Just as importantly, Thursday’s three-hour session focused on proactive strategies for identifying potential conflicts before they erupt into what session leader and personal-security expert Matt Welborn called “flash-point” incidents like the ones chronicled so often in national news stories.

Welborn, an Army veteran with a background in Special Operations who is now a consultant for the Spokane-based Center for Personal Protection & Safety, said that students, faculty and staff should not hesitate to notify campus personnel of any troubling behaviors exhibited by fellow students or college employees.

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“Most people do not just ‘snap.’ Many times, after an incident occurs, people will say that they noticed something about the individual that didn’t seem right,” Welborn said. “Usually, we find out later that there were warning signs, or patterns of behavior, but that nobody said anything at the time. Many times people just think that the situation will take care of itself. But it doesn’t take care of itself. Oftentimes it continues to gets worse, until it reaches that flash point.”

According to statistics cited in Welborn’s presentation, the odds of any one individual being involved in a campus shooting incident are about the same as the odds of being struck by lightning. But that is no reason not to make proactive safety considerations a regular part of your daily thinking, Welborn said. Knowing where the exits are located in any room, for example, can make the difference between escaping from an unexpected violent situation and being trapped in a room with a shooter, he said.

“It’s not about being paranoid. It’s about being prepared,” said Welborn, who noted that he always sits facing the door in restaurants so that he can see who is coming in and out. “And this isn’t just for school. This is for your home, and for life in general.”

Welborn, who illustrated his presentation with several videos, acknowledged the potential need for individuals to confront a shooter when adequate cover or avenues of escape are unavailable, but he cautioned attendees against believing that such scenarios will play out like they do in movies or television shows. If direct conversation takes place with the perpetrator, Welborn recommended that individuals seek to humanize themselves to make it more difficult psychologically for the shooter to target them.

And, if physical confrontation becomes necessary or unavoidable, he said, it’s important for the individuals taking that action to work as a team and commit wholeheartedly to the plan, acting with the mindset that “you will survive no matter what.”

WWCC Vice President for Student Success Services Jackie Freeze, Ph.D., acknowledged the importance of preparing for such frightening scenarios, as campus shootings have become a tragic and disturbing reality in the higher education landscape.

“We hope that Western will never have a catastrophic situation such as an active shooter,” Freeze said. “We want our staff and students to be as prepared as they can possibly be in the event that anything ever happens. Most of these situations are over within five minutes and the actions taken by the people involved can make the difference in saving lives. The session provided by the Center for Personal Protection & Safety yesterday did an excellent job of providing a high-level overview and practical skill-building for individual response.”

WWCC Vice President for Administrative Services Marty Kelsey said that Thursday’s session was part of Western’s ongoing emphasis on campus safety and security, and he praised Welborn’s presentation as “knowledgeable, timely and applicable.”

“This is the start of a longer process to review all of our policies and concerns about the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors,” Kelsey said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re off on the right foot.”

For more information about CPPS, go to http://www.cppssite.com/