ALTOONA, Pa. (WJAC)—As part of an active shooter drill Tuesday, students from Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School filed out of the school building and headed toward an off-campus location where they would meet in the event of a threat.
“We know the world we live in and we understand that we could do one of two things. We could not talk about it at all and not have the answer, or we can start to do the things like we’re doing today, actually physically leaving the school and going to rally point and making a difference when it comes to survival for a bad thing happens at their school,” said Bubba Fatula, the director of threat preparedness for Gittings Protective Security.
Gatula said he has been working with Bishop Guilfoyle students, teaching them the appropriate responses to a security threat.
“We built a foundation over time here of how they respond to an active shooter scenario," he said. “We’re at the point right now in building this foundation in telling them where they go to if there’s ever a crisis at their school.”
As in many schools, Bishop Guilfoyle students have been instructed using the run, hide, fight response model. Fatula said when students decide to run, they need a safe place to go.
“When they run out of the building they don’t know where to go next. We find them standing outside in a parking lot upset and not having the next answer,” Fatula said. “We have to take this to the next point, now we tell them to run, now we have to give them a point to run to. We’re just taking it one step further.”
Fatula said it's important students get to the safe zones so they can take cover and later reunite with their family.
“We bring them down to what’s called a rally point, which are predetermined locations that the brain tells their body to run to,” he said. “When they get here, we take them from this point to their reunification center.”
During the drill, students were greeted by Altoona police and firefighters who told them what to expect in a real emergency. Fatula said with this knowledge, he hopes students feel more confident.
“I’m hoping they understand that the school cares, that the community cares,” he said. “In a time of crisis, you have one or two options, do nothing and stay inside that school or be empowered to run, hide or fight.”
Fatula said his organization determines the right rally points for each school they work with.
They identify a location where students can conceal themselves and wait for help, but also get closer to where their guardians would eventually pick them up.
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