Media Relations Intern Richard Tyler, a public relations major from St. Clairsville, Ohio, contributed to this press release.
It’s every teacher’s and school administrator’s nightmare — an active shooter situation. With that in mind, West Liberty University and Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security will host an active shooter response training course on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 29 and 30 at WLU’s main campus.
Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security Director Lou Vargo and Campus Police Captain Thomas Hostutler will host ALICE training, July 29 & 30.
The two-day instructor-training course is designed to teach proactive survival skills in violent intruder or active shooter situations to law enforcement as well as school, church, hospital and workplace administrators and employees.
“This course provides training that will bridge the gap between the time a violent event begins and the law enforcement arrives,” said Lou Vargo, director of Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security. “We are pleased to work with the West Liberty University police in presenting this national training designed by ALICE Training Institute.”
Founder and President Greg Crane created two training programs, ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) and RAIDER (Rapid Deployment, Awareness, Intervention, Decisiveness, EMS, Recovery), in hopes that if a person should face a shooter situation, they can survive it. Crane developed these training programs with the hopes of keeping his wife, an elementary school principal, safe — after tragic shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.
The training will include background knowledge such as statistics and why ALICE training is effective, a detailed overview of ALICE and the liability of proactive versus passive response strategies. Both live scenario drills that will compare static versus active ALICE response and effective training strategies will be taught.
Two WLU employees, Administrative Secretary to the President Mary Ann Edwards and Admissions Counselor Rhonda Tysk will receive training thanks to staff funds for development and scholarship. Additionally John Marshall Assistant Principal Ashlea Minch has been invited to participate.
Training is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, July 29 and 30 and will take place in WLU’s Main Hall, second floor. Registration is $495 per person. To register, visit alicetraining.com or http://bit.ly/WestLibertyJuly29.
For more information, please contact Vargo, at 304-234-3756 or lvargo@wocema.com.