Mass Shooting Expert Gives Survival Tips For Emergency Situations

In early October, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of thousands of concertgoers who attended the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. According to authorities, 58 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. The incident is considered the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. modern history.

Since then, other mass shootings have occurred throughout the country, including Devin Patrick Kelley who killed 26 people at the First Baptist Church in rural Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5.

And a grim anniversary today, when 5 years ago, 26 educators and children died at Sandy Hook elementary.

These episodes raise questions about whether it is still safe to be out in public and whether people know how to protect themselves if under attack.

WFDD's intern Beatriz Caldas spoke with Wake Forest University Emergency Manager August Vernon. Vernon is a 25-year public safety official veteran and an experienced first responder. He has an extensive background dealing with deadly emergencies, including mass shootings.

Interview Highlights

On how Wake Forest University prepares itself and its community for possible mass shootings and other incidents:

Our campus police department, like many others, goes through some active shooter training on how they will respond to this. So, one [thing we do] is training the responders, the other one is training the community how to respond. Also, we at the institution level will tend to do training and exercises where we will do some type of exercise, almost a simulated situation, so the university leadership knows how to respond to that and how to manage that. And we really have a great relationship with the Winston-Salem Police Department, the county sheriff's department, [and] all our local law enforcement agencies that we rely on to help us. We all work together on a pretty regular basis.

On what the general public can do to protect themselves:

So there's a couple of things that the general public can do. The first one is there is some training that's called 'Run, Hide, Fight.' It's available on YouTube. Also, we live in a world where it seems people are paying less and less attention. So a lot of times what I would do when I'm at a public location or anywhere is I just kind of pay attention. Where are my exits, who's around? And that's not a paranoia, that's just a general awareness of your environment. Same thing when you get on an airplane. I hope everyone listens to the safety briefing, which I think most people don't. I certainly do. Just where are my exits, who's on the plane, what do I need to do if something happens. I think it's just being aware of your surroundings, and have a plan, that's the key thing to talk to people about. Have a plan if you're in a movie theater, you know where the exits are at, if you're in a mall, would you know how to leave the mall? And sort of a third thing is for the general public to learn some basic first aid.

It is understandable that people feel scared about going out in light of recent events. But should they avoid outdoor venues and public places?

"It's an unfortunate reality and unfortunate fact of life, but I don't think that means that we can't go out anymore and we can't do the things that we like to do."