LIMA — Almost all schools and businesses hold fire drills so people know what to do in case of a fire even though fires in the workplace or at school are rare.
Even more rare are active killers in the workplace but it does happen across the country each year and only a small number of businesses have had training on surviving.
Allen County Sheriff Deputy Damian Tibbs gave a short presentation to Lima Rotary on Monday highlighting a program he teaches called ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.
In the past few years terrorists and mentally ill people have used bombs, guns and knives to attack people in the workplace, in churches, malls and other public settings.
Tibbs teaches people how to stay alive. He extends the training to local businesses.
“You have to have a plan. When you don’t have a plan you basically plan to fail,” Tibbs said.
He told the group most people who strike at a business work there and probably have not shown violent tendencies.
“The people who have reached this point in their life, they don’t care if you live or die,” Tibbs said. “You cannot depend on mercy.”
He also told them it’s a myth to believe it will never happen to them or that police will respond before anyone is hurt.
“We could be across town,” he said.
Most active killer events go for a matter of minutes until police arrive somewhere around 7 minutes or so. In that time people can die if they don’t escape, hide or fight as a last resort, he said.
ALICE training teaches people how to inform co-workers, lockdown in an office a killer cannot enter, call police, fight back and evacuate the building. Getting out and to safety is the best choice if available, he said.
Even if an active killer uses a gun as a weapon, people still can fight back. They can use objects to throw at the active killer or strike that person. They also can use the element of surprise to their advantage, Tibbs said.
Part of his presentation also includes talking to business owners about concealed carry while telling that is their option to decide whether to allow staff to be armed.
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