Attorney General DeWine Releases Additional School Safety Videos

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)— Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today released more than a dozen new school safety videos for educators.

The 15 new videos were produced by the Attorney General’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) as part of its “Active Shooter Response: An Educator’s Guide” video series. Ten other videos created as part of the series were released in June.

OPOTA produced the videos as part of an effort by Attorney General DeWine to aid educators in preparing for and reacting to a potentially violent school incident, such as a school shooting.

The videos released today include: “What to Expect When Law Enforcement Arrives,” “Duties of a Rescue Task Force,” “Stay Safe,” “Moving the Injured,” “Window Placards,” “Barricade Locks,”  “Caring for the Injured – Bleeding,” “Caring for the Injured – Airway,” “Caring for the Injured – Tension Pneumothorax,” “Caring for the Injured – Hypothermia,” “School Safety Plan Requirements,” “Plan Development Team,” “Vulnerability Assessment,” “Capability Assessment,” and “Review and Revise Existing Plans.”

The entire video series can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/SchoolSafety.

“These short videos are meant to be conversation starters for schools as they update their school safety plans for the new school year,” said Attorney General DeWine. “I hope teachers never need to use what they learn in the training, but I believe that it is vitally important that educators are prepared.”

The videos are an update to the training offered by OPOTA beginning in 2013 that provided guidance to nearly 15,000 educators on how to intervene with students who could pose a danger and how to respond in a crisis situation.

The new videos are accompanied by a companion workbook that provides discussion points and next steps to help educators develop and/or update their response plans.

Use of the videos by school personnel is not required, but it is encouraged. It is also suggested that law enforcement, parents, and older students watch the videos as well.

Since taking office in 2011, Attorney General DeWine has taken several measures to enhance school safety across the state. In addition to training thousands of educators, Attorney General DeWine’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy has trained more than 14,000 law enforcement officers on preparing for and responding to active shooter threats.

Attorney General DeWine also worked with schools across the state to achieve greater compliance on school safety plans and convened a School Safety Task Force that issued dozens of school safety recommendations. The task force recognized that mental health awareness was essential for schools to identify and intervene with students who may be at risk.