Ohio State Department of Public Safety releases updated surviving an active aggressor video on Aug. 24, emphasizing run, hide, fight motto. Courtesy of The Ohio State University
An updated “Surviving an Active Aggressor” video, the first by Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety following the attack on campus on Nov. 28, 2016, was released Aug. 24.
This updated tutorial expands on tips covered in the original video designed to keep university students safe during the event of a campus attack.
Following the creation of the original tutorial “Surviving an Active Shooter” in 2015, the Ohio State Department of Public Safety received a multitude of questions regarding different scenarios and specific details, according to Dan Hedman, a university spokesperson. These questions followed the November 2016 attack when students and staff became increasingly concerned about their safety on campus.
The video received more than 1 million views on YouTube in three years.
“The ‘Surviving an Active Aggressor’ video goes into additional detail to address some of the most common questions we received while expanding on the run, hide, fight safety tips,” Hedman said. “The additional detail included will help supplement ongoing emergency preparedness and active aggressor trainings offered by The Ohio State University Police Division.”
The current video includes details such as how to exit through a first-floor window, what to do when the room you are in does not lock and more information on how to physically fight off an attacker.
“What we were seeing was a lot of the same questions being asked, so we hoped that by making this new video we could facilitate answers for those questions,” said Cassandra Shaffer, the University Police officer who appeared in the video.
The release of the updated tutorial comes at a time during which violence toward schools is increasingly in the public eye. On Aug. 30, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine also released a series of school safety videos.
According to an email from DeWine’s office, the videos are meant to be “conversation starters” and include instructions regarding first-aid for the injured, barricading locks and creating a safety plan. Both DeWine’s and Ohio State’s videos aim to not only answer questions, but keep students and staff safe.
“As the video reiterates, our concern is for the safety of everyone, including the person in crisis. We ask that if you see something, say something,” Hedman said.
Shaffer also reminded the community to give themselves the tools to stay safe in the event of a dangerous situation.
“It’s important to think about an event like this ahead of time, if you can give yourself time … to think ahead of the incident when the incident occurs,” Shaffer said. “That’s our hope, is that everybody realizes they can do it, they just need to do something. We hope that it gives them the confidence to empower themselves.”
