BYU Emergency Management offers active aggressor advice

BYU Emergency Management held an informational meeting about what to do in the case of an active aggressor.

Speaking on the importance of emergency preparedness, Lieutenant Wade Raab of BYU Police shared why such meetings are important.

I always felt like we need to do a better job of educating our community and our students of what to do in case of an active event, Raab said. I want you to know that we have a well-trained and very capable police and security department to respond to any event that occurs here on campus.

Sergeant Kreston Bascom of Provo Police began discussing this preparedness with an important question.

So, as we walked in tonight, did anyone pay attention to their environment? Bascom said.

Those in the audience looked around at each other realizing that this was something they had failed to do.

Maybe in your workplace, in your typical classrooms, you want to look around and kind of have a general idea of what you can do in any scenario wherever you're at, Bascom said. You never know when you're going to want to use this knowledge.

Bascom taught that in an alarming or unexpected situation, the brain automatically goes into fight-or-flight mode, making it difficult to think clearly.

So, what that does sometimes is it affects your motor skills, your fine motor skills, or you'll get tunnel vision for auditory exclusion, right? Bascom said.

Realizing this, he explained that a simple system has been set up to help a person remember what to do in the case of an active aggressor: run, hide or fight.

He said the system is simple because complicated directions would be difficult to remember.

When you're stressed, and we're telling you, don't pull the alarm, don't do this on your phone, don't do this, don't do that, you're not going to remember that, Bascom said. But like stop, drop and roll, you can remember to run, hide or fight.

He explained that with each of these principles, it is imperative to follow natural instincts and decide at the moment which route is best for that person.

The Emergency Management team also shared this helpful video that helps a person further understand these principles. The link also contains more information on how to prepare, survive and recover after the case of an active aggressor.

Bascom said Brigham Young University has done so much to support the safety of the staff and students here on campus.

There is the SafeWalk feature on the BYU app, with more than 5,000 cameras, door locks, alarm systems and a master safety plan to name a few.

We're even in the process of evaluating drones for part of the safety plan, Bascom said.

When asked about the most important thing she had learned from the training, Brielle Mackrory, a BYU student, touched on the value of always being prepared.

I feel like my main takeaway was just the importance of being prepared and always aware of your surroundings, because at any time something could go wrong, and it's better to be prepared than taken aback and surprised, Mackrory said.