T H E C L A C K A M A S P R IN T
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N O V . 12, 2014
| V O L . 48 IS S U E 5
College trains for taking down shooters
by Maddy Kays
ince the massacre at Sandy H ook Elementary School in December
2012, 88 school shootings have shook the country, according to ev-
erytown.org. A round the country, parents send their children to
school with the fear that they won’t return.
Schools enforce new safety regulations, some going as far as to install
metal detectors. Faculty and staff are being trained on what to do in
the presence of an activé shooter. Suzy Isham, form er director o f campus safety at
Clackamas Com m unity College, has made headway training school staff.
“Suzy has gone almost national with her training,” said Bob Cochran, dean of campus
services at CCC. “H er premise is to take action, don’t be a victim. A rm yourself with
whatever you have handy and stand up for yourself’
In February, Isham published an emergency response guide for the CCC campus.
One o f the procedures listed is what to do in the presence o f a school shooter. Isham
conducted 15 ‘Surviving the Active Shooter’ trainings with CC C staff and faculty, po
lice officers, YMCA daycare directors, search and rescue groups and other com m u
nity directors.
“The trainings last about an hour and a half, and encompass the definition of active
shooter, some know n and not so known case studies o f past active shooters, myths
and facts about what we know about active shooters, statistics on where active shoot
ing events have occurred over the last 15 years and the frequency, as well as the pro
cedure on what we want folks to do in the event of an active shooter, said Isham in
an email. Isham recently resigned from CCC and moved over to the Oregon Health
Science University campus last month.
“We incorporated the ‘Rim, Hide, Fight’ method, which is a nationally recognized ap
proach, as well as using the H ouston video through Hom eland Security that you can
Google — Run, Hide, Fight,” said Isham. The video was created by ‘Ready Houston’ , a
program dedicated to creating disaster preparation guidelines for citizens of Houston.
So how does campus safety on CCC feel to students? “I feel pretty safe on campus. I
would feel ’better if I saw the campus police instead of just their empty cars on cam
pus,” said Katie Harvey. “If there was an active
shooter on campus ... I would only fight if it
was m y only option.”
The video “Run, Hide, Fight” illustrates what to
do in the event o f an active shooter. If you can
get out quickly, exit the building and encourage
others to follow you. Call 911. If you can’t run,
you need to hide — turn off the lights, lock the
door, barricade it and silence your cell phone.
If needed, arm yourself with improvised weap
ons and fight the shooter. Com m it to your ac
tions. Disarm them and fight.
ISHAM