The assurance of safety requires a plan.
That’s why the Jasper RCMP meets annually with representatives from all of Jasper’s schools to refresh the schools’ SAFE plans.
SAFE stands for School Action For Emergencies and was created in 2007 as a proactive measure to combat potentially tragic situations in schools. It was spurred on by events like the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2007, or closer to home in Taber, Alta. in 1999, where a 14-year-old boy opened fire inside W.R. Myers High School, killing a 17-year-old student and injuring another.
But it protects against more than just shootings.
“A lockdown situation is the most extreme,” said Corp. Ryan Gardiner of the Jasper RCMP, referring to a situation where there is a dangerous intruder, an active shooter or a barricaded suspect.
“A hold and secure is another term that we use. That’s when there’s an emergency situation happening outside the school, not related to the school.
“So say we had a robbery downtown and we ended up chasing the suspect in the direction of the school and we didn’t want them to potentially run into the school and cause some situation there, so we would have the school locked.”
The third situation the SAFE plan prepares for is referred to as sheltering in place. It’s used when it’s determined that the personal safety of students, teachers and staff would be in danger if they were to leave the school.
An example would be during an extreme weather event, or if a grizzly bear was in the schoolyard.
The SAFE plans for Jasper’s schools have provisions within them for all of these situations, so the school staff and the RCMP are on the same page as to how to handle a potentially dangerous event.
According to Gardiner, the plans include everything from the schools’ floor plans to photos of every room, hallway and closet in the building and the safety procedures taken by the schools, and all of that information is available at the click of a mouse on the laptops in the RCMP patrol cars.
“We have all of the safety information that we need at our finger tips when we’re responding, to better prepare us and other emergency personnel that might respond after us,” said Gardiner.
If Jasper were to ever have a lockdown, hold and secure or sheltering in place situation, Gardiner said the most important thing the community can do is stay put.
“We wouldn’t want [parents] to come to the school and try to pick up their kids,” he said. “They don’t want to be there. There’s a reason we’re calling a lockdown and it’s serious. They’ve gotta know that there are professionals there to deal with it, and if they’re trying to get there they could be putting themselves at risk or other people [at risk].
“As hard as it is, [parents] should sit tight and wait to hear from the authorities that they can come and pick up their kids.”
To Gardiner’s knowledge, Jasper’s schools have never had to use their SAFE plans, but he said it’s important to review them yearly on the off chance that they do come into play.
“We gotta be prepared.”
Nicole Veerman
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