Teachers participate in active shooter training as Ohio children return to school

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — It's back to school season in central Ohio and as educators prepare for the beginning of the school year, they're also training for emergency situations.

Teachers at the Arts and College Preparatory Academy (ACPA) went through an active shooter training on Friday morning.

“The fact we have to do this is really hard but our number one job is to protect our kids and to protect our students," said Sarah Bostelman, director of operations at ACPA.

During one of the scenarios at ACPA, a deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) played the role of an active shooter in the hall and fired a track and field starter pistol. As part of the exercise, teachers were in their classrooms at the time. Bostelman said it's a sad reality educators need to go through these types of drills.

“It is incredibly important to change the way you are preparing for these events so you’re not a sitting duck just like they say in the training," she said. 

The program from the FCSO is called CRASE. It stands for Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events. Deputy Michael Fetherolf has led it for about 10 years.

“Latest statistics are 57% of all of our active attacks end before police get there. So for me, that means it doesn't matter how much I train, I really need to be out in my community teaching people how to respond to reduce that risk for them," he said. "It's going to be over before I get there more than half the time so I really need to make sure my community members are the best equipped we can be."

During the training, the group was also taught how to use tourniquets and other methods of stopping bleeding.

“You never want it. We’re going to train for worst case scenario that day that if it were to ever happen -- we never want it to -- but we’re going to be the best prepared we can be for if it were to happen," Fetherolf said.

Fetherolf said much of what was taught can be useful in other places as well. CRASE is also offered to colleges, businesses, hospitals, and places of worship. More information about it can be found here.