As we ring in the New Year, it’s time to forget the New Year’s Resolution trend and focus on Accountability. We have all been to the gym on January 2nd only to find all of the elliptical machines to be taken, and by March, the gym is vacant. What happens to those empty promises we create in hopes that the new year will be different than the last? Are resolutions inherently meant to be broken?
It’s time to hold ourselves accountable. Whether you are a business owner, religious leader, an educator, or an entity within the public sector, it’s time to hold ourselves accountable with protecting our own. 2018 will bring new trials and tribulations within the Public Safety realm and it’s time to prepare for the unknown. From the flu epidemic to the heightened risk of an active shooter scenario, we need to stop depending solely on public safety entities and take accountability.
Not only at the municipal level, but throughout the corporate world, leaders are more and more inclined to develop Emergency Response Plans. Churches and schools are practicing Active Shooter Scenarios, teaching our most vulnerable populations, children and the elderly, what to do in these emergencies.
Drills. Drills. Drills. Not only do these drills develop a heightened sense of situational awareness, but practice makes perfect. Even in Emergency Services/ Public Safety, we do these drills in order to have a baseline in the back of our mind on what to do when an emergency occurs. Like muscle memory but for our flight response that is within all of us. Or perhaps a coping mechanism that allows you to remain calm. Simulations allow the participant to tap into those initial fears and build a situational awareness foundation for that type of event.
Let’s make 2018 the year of developing preparedness measures for protecting our own.
