AST March 2018 Magazine March 2018 Final -3.3.18 | Page 39

Volume 21
March 2018 Edition
There hasn’t been a fire related death in a school since 1957.
That tells me all the codes, training and practice fire drills have
paid off.
Couldn’t and shouldn’t the same hold true for active shooter
situations.
We could easily design buildings and rooms therein so that there
are always two evacuation routes.
We would need to make sure they’re opposite each other
so the occupants don’t have to run in to the line-of-fire of
the shooter.
This paradigm shift would allow people to escape instead of waiting
to be murdered by hiding, or at best, fighting to overwhelm the
shooter.
Even if we start today, it will take time before we change our mindset and
find applicable solutions that most emergency planners can agree on.
With that in mind, we need to provide protection to people wher-
ever they find themselves.
Ballistic materials are currently on the market that can be
incorporated into furniture; counters, white boards, walls,
doors, etc. that offer protection to occupants.
For example this full-page infographic on fire
safety which included examples of escape
routes, courtesy of themapshack.com
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