How do you protect yourself from an active threat?

An active threat is an emergency event where an individual with a weapon poses an immediate danger to safety on campus. Active threats may use firearms or other weapons to cause harm. Active threat events are rare, but they can and have happened on university campuses in North America.

A new video provides information on how to protect yourself during an active threat.

“We encourage all students, staff and faculty to watch this video and consider the message of Get Out, Hide or Fight,” says Rob Johns, manager of emergency planning. “We hope that we’ll never need to use this information, but it will help you to know what to expect if ‘the unthinkable’ happens and provide tips on how to react more quickly.”

The video includes a dramatization of an active threat event and some viewers may find it disturbing. The video was produced by the Campus Alberta Risk and Assurance Committee with the participation of several Canadian post-secondary institutions.

To learn more about how to survive an active threat event:

• Visit the website and watch the video.
• Attend a drop-in lunch-and-learn training session (no registration required) Tuesday, May 9 or Thursday, May 11 from noon to 1 p.m. in Cornett A129.
• Request an active threat training session for your unit or work group. Contact the Personal Safety Coordinators in Campus Security Services at psc@uvic.ca to arrange a session.

Emergency Preparedness Week is May 7-13, 2017 and this year’s theme is Plan. Prepare. Be Aware. Check the UVic Emergency Planning website for more information about campus activities.