After I heard about the latest atrocity that occurred within an educational facility yesterday that claimed 17 lives in a senseless act of violence, I couldn’t help but wonder why this hasn’t been talked about more.
We are all aware that in new construction, mass notification systems/EVAC are required by NFPA codes. They not only alert persons about fires, but other dangerous situations that occur in buildings. They have the capability to be overridden should a perpetrator activate an alarm in an attempt to do what was done yesterday: to cause confusion and lure out more victims and ultimately cause more fatalities.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new. We’ve had this in our lockdown and active threat training for years, since the 1990’s: In an active shooter/lockdown situation, if the fire alarm sounds, do not heed the alarm’s warning… the perpetrator(s) motive may be to lure more victims out… to cause more harm and/or loss of life.
Therefore, I truly believe that something needs to be done. From some quick research, it appears the school had a traditional fire alarm system with horn/strobes. There was no way to differentiate any different sort of emergency, let alone to override the alarm or provide vital instructions that could’ve saved lives. There was hardly any time to do anything once students and faculty heard the shots but to act upon their own instincts. Plus, they have had this knowledge for years, and my question remains as to why many districts across the country neglect to put it in their lockdown protocols.
Being a student in a 75-year-old school building with a traditional fire alarm system myself, it scares me to think that one day heeding the fire alarm’s warning may cost me my life. And I wonder that had they had a mass notification system in that school in Florida, existing construction, that the alarm could’ve been overridden somehow, that more people could’ve been saved and not caught in the ensuing chaos.
Thoughts? I know this is a serious topic, but as it has connections to me and my school (going to school in a 75-year-old building), I thought it was worth bringing up. Because in my opinion people’s lives could’ve been saved, perhaps not much, but some. And I believe that. And I wonder that perhaps I should change my philosophy about being the first person out in a fire alarm, because I wonder what would happen to me in that sort of situation. While I hope that nothing like this ever occurs to anybody, it is the reality we are facing and one I am facing myself, being a high school student myself and I thought it was important to bring up the question: Should we invest more money in school facilities upgrading existing and installing extensive mass notification systems in new construction to help save lives and prevent more loss of life in a situation like this, even though we hope it won’t happen to us, but unfortunately is today’s reality?
And more importantly, the next time a traditional fire alarm system sounds, should we heed the warning as we have done traditionally? Or should we change our approach?