President Trump Calls for Armed Teachers: Ohio Has Been Doing It for 5 Years
President Trump said his administration is considering the idea of arming and training teachers to help secure our schools. However, Ohio has been doing this for 5 years.
FASTER Saves Lives is a nonprofit program funded by private donations. FASTER stands for Faculty / Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response.
Created by concerned parents, law enforcement, and nationally-recognized safety and medical experts, FASTER is a groundbreaking, nonprofit program that gives educators practical violence response training.
The program offers a carefully-structured curriculum with over 26 hours of hands-on training over a 3-day class that exceeds the requirements of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.
The purpose is not to replace police and EMT, but to allow teachers, administrators, and other personnel on-site to stop school violence rapidly and render medical aid immediately.
"When an active killer enters a school, every second counts," said Dean Rieck, Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association. "Being able to stop the violence rapidly and tend to the injured immediately will absolutely save lives."
To date, more than 1,300 teachers and staff from 225 districts across 12 states have received training, including educators in 76 of Ohio's 88 counties. Up to 400 additional educators are set to go through training in 2018.
"It's taken a while for this idea to catch on," continued Rieck. "At first, many people told us it wouldn't work. But we pioneered this concept, refined it, and have proven that it works. Now school boards are coming to us asking how they can improve security in their schools.
"Some educators are skeptical. So we invite them to observe the training and see for themselves. Once they see what the FASTER Saves Lives classes are really all about, and when they see the high quality of instruction and how the program has adapted proven ideas from real world active killer events for the school environment, they're much better equipped to make rational, clear headed decisions about the next steps for their school."
Demand for the classes from Ohio schools, and overwhelming interest from other states, greatly exceeds the funding available. The program recently received a grant from the State of Ohio for $100,000 per year for 2018 and 2019.
For more information, visit www.FASTERSavesLives.org.
