Now is the best time to think about it. Doesn’t matter much who you are or what you do: school administrator, Dean of Students, Elementary School teacher, school resource officer, parent, or a wary student. In this wacky day and age where guns are almost as prevalent as blackboard erasers, give some thought now about how you would react and what you might do if some student or spaced-out domestic terrorist tries to bogart a school bus or waltz into a classroom with the intent of taking a hostage.
Hostage Terror on a School Bus
In light of the disturbing events of the past few weeks when a disturbed man forced his way onto a school bus, shot and killed the bus driver, and commandeered himself a child hostage, let’s consider the school bus as a hostage site first. Here is a situation where the Bus Driver must assume a position of heightened responsibility for the welfare of his student passengers. Calls for sound judgment, sharp and quick decision-making, knowledge of school and police procedures in managing such incidents, and training dealing with such incidents is essential, I think.
Student/Passengers must be trained and/or made aware of the behavior that will be required of them in order to maximize their chances of surviving this rare but volatile ordeal. By this I mean the type of behavior that will not inflame an already explosive situation.
A CRITICAL INCIDENT PLAN FOR SCHOOLS: SUGGESTIONS MADE BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EXPERTS
- Disable the bus or throw the keys away from the bus. Police can respond to the scene quickly because the bus will remain stationary. This is a bold and daring move by any bus driver, and, although this could prove to be a great emergency move, this could also spark the hostage taker into action against the driver. Consider this move carefully.
- If practicable, evacuate as many students as possible and direct them to a position out of sight of the bus.
- Clear the area of as many students as possible.
- Notify the transportation radio dispatcher of as much information as possible regarding the situation and location. If allowed to maintain radio contact, do so. All radio transmissions must be disciplined.
- THE TRANSPORTATION DEPT or dispatch officer should call 911 and the Deputy Superintendent for Operations and all procedures set out in the Plan of Action for Buildings should be implemented.
TRAIN AND PREPARE THE RIGHT WAY
The most effective way for anyone to properly prepare bus drivers and students, none of whom are naturally skilled or prepared to physically, mentally, and tactically to anticipate and prevent a student or terrorist from taking over a school bus or taking a student hostage is professional training. I’m sorry. There is no event that can match a brutal hostage scenario for its psychological and physical demands on either a victim or that victim’s authorized protector (the driver). So, here’s the thing: Merely distributing a manifesto or series of procedures and protocols in writing are not going to prepare the students and the bus drivers for such an event.
Dynamic, realistic simulations, or scenarios where students, administrators, teachers, security and bus drivers are put through realistic and plausible situations. This way the players can react and succeed (in surviving the situation) or react and fail and learn from their reactions without the possibility of suffering injury or death. Dynamic Simulation Training is also known as Stress Inoculation Training where the trainees are actually inoculated with the type of survival stress so that when and if they are ever confronted with this type of perilous hostage situation it will be as if they had already been through the scenario and will actually be inoculated with not only the stress but the tactics and techniques they will need to survive the ordeal!
Until Next Time, Stay safe.
Hammer