University of Akron reminds campus to Run, Hide, Fight in active shooter situation

In the wake of the college campus shootings that killed three Michigan State University students last week, the University of Akron is reminding staff and students of three words to remember in similar crisis: Run. Hide. Fight.

"First, get out of there if you can," University of Akron Assistant Police Chief Todd Hough said. "If the perpetrator’s too close, and you can’t escape, try to hide. Lock the door. Avoid windows. Silence your cellphone."

The last resort, he said, "is to confront the perpetrator. If confronted, your life’s in danger, there’s nowhere to go, you can’t hide ... Basically do anything you can, assault the subject with a chair, grab a table, anything you can to survive."

The university last year switched its active shooter training from the common ALICE training — which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate — to the FBI's Run, Hide, Fight program.

This is the first time all first-year students will be required to take the course as part of their freshman experience class.

"Our goal is to get as much of our campus community through it as we can," Hough said.

The Run, Hide, Fight training, unlike what the university offered through the ALICE program, can be done entirely online. The campus community can access the 25-minute video using a UA login on the university police department's website, www.uakron.edu/safety/police/. The general public can watch similar videos on YouTube or the FBI's website.

ALICE, which Akron Public Schools and Kent State University still use, is a great option, but Akron felt the simplicity of the words Run, Hide, Fight and its online availability were preferable for the campus, Hough said.

"The thought behind it is just to have a plan, and something simple that people can remember, something that’s very simple for people to follow," Hough said.

If an incident were to occur on campus, Hough said, the university would send an alert that would contain the words run, hide, fight as a reminder.

Where the Run, Hide, Fight training differs from ALICE is in the first actions it advises someone to take, which for the latter are Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

Hough said that model can put more emphasis on locking down in place instead of immediately fleeing, creating a situation where a group of people locked down together may be more vulnerable. In an active shooter or similar situation, University of Akron police want to emphasize to students and staff to remove themselves from the area first if they are able.

"Our vision is, whenever you can get out of a situation, go," Hough said. "Take other people with you if you can, if it's safe to do it, but if you can get out, get out."

Don Zesiger, director of security for Akron Public Schools, said ALICE training still fits the district the best given the wide age range of students, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

"The steps do not necessarily go in order from A to E," he said. "Evacuation is always your first and best option in a deadly situation with an armed intruder into a school building."

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: UA reminds campus of Run, Hide, Fight in active shooter situation