“So, upon my arrival on that day, I stopped in the middle of a five-lane road and said, ‘This looks like a good place to be. I’m gonna stay here.’ I walked in to find uniforms, matching of mine, looking for command to say, ‘This is what we need to do.’ […] At that time that I finally got there, the kids had been moved from the high school into a church that was just a few blocks away, and we were trying to get the kids back to their parents.” – Sgt. Jason
Structure. Order. Composure. These words don’t typically come to mind in the aftermath of a school shooting, but for Sgt. Jason, they were essential to effectively managing the situation and reunifying students with their families. When he was called to Arapahoe High School after a shooting in 2013, he discovered the pandemonium you would expect to find with relocating thousands of panicked high school students to a nearby church and desperate family members flooding the scene to find their children. Sgt. Jason recognized that while first responders were well-trained to respond to the active shooting situation itself, they lacked the organization necessary to efficiently pick up the pieces and put them back together afterward.
Join host and former firefighter/paramedic Phil Klein whose guest, Jason, spent 15 years with law enforcement in roles ranging from field training officer to sergeant. An avid proponent of training, he worked to ensure his department exceeded the standard in everything from report writing to crisis intervention. He shares the unique perspective he has gained from responding to shooting situations like the one at Arapahoe High School and the critical changes that have been implemented from lessons he and other first responders have learned.
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