Rethinking security at work and home

Three District 2 employees traveled to Boise in July to participate in an active-shooter exercise designed to test first responders and prepare employees to run, hide or fight.

Records inspector Bill Foust was one of the employees who attended the simulation.

“With recent tragedies, it reminds us that the risk is real,” Foust said. “An active shooter incident can happen anywhere at any time.”

Foust, who served in the Army for six years, explained as a veteran he has been trained to survey his surroundings for danger, taking note of exits and troubling signs. After the exercise, he is interested in reviewing or developing a response plan for the district office.

Ty Winther, a transportation technician in operations, said learning from FBI agents and other emergency professionals has made him reconsider the different strategies to use whether he is alone, with his family, at work or at home. 

“Our plan going forward is to bring this experience back to the district offices to be better prepared if something like that ever happened,” Winther said. “The more hands-on training we can participate in, the better off we will be.”

Eric Nelson, also from operations, agrees: “A similar situation geared more for people in an office setting would be very beneficial to me and my coworkers. We would stand a greater chance of surviving, even if we just practiced once.”

D2 management has asked the group to debrief them on the exercise and to find ways to extend the benefits of the experience beyond just those who participated.

“Here in Idaho, we feel relatively insulated from what is perceived to be a big-city issue,” Engineering Manager Doral Hoff said. “This training helps keep us grounded, which ensures the protection of our employees; we’ll continue to focus on their safety by learning from exercises like this one.”

Published 08-31-18