Business Writing

On a sunny Saturday in August, Emily Fisher was out shopping with her family.

Emily is an environmental engineer who works at the Ren Cen.

On that particular Saturday, her focus was totally on being “mom,” as she and her husband shopped at Costco with their 8- and 4-year-old daughters. In fact, they were shopping for supplies for her younger daughter’s birthday party the next day.

They had just bought the burgers, hot dogs, a veggie tray and other supplies and were all sitting down enjoying an ice cream at the snack bar before heading out. 

Then, they heard several loud bangs, an alarm going off and the sound of people scattering in fear.

Emily and her husband responded immediately.

Emily grabbed her daughters and ran into a walk-in freezer in the kitchen area for the snack bar. She tucked the girls behind some boxes and hid with them. Her husband positioned himself at the entrance to the kitchen.

It was a short, but terrifying few minutes before the local SWAT team arrived and announced an all-clear. 

An armed robbery had occurred at the store. The sounds they heard were not gun shots, but the robbers breaking into the jewelry display cases.

So fortunately, shots were not fired and no one was injured.

But, Emily and her family did not know that at the time. They reacted quickly, preparing for the possible worst-case scenario.

Erica had taken Active Shooter Training at work recently and she attributes that training to her actions during the robbery.

Active Shooter Training is based on the ”Run-Hide-Fight” model. It teaches you to evaluate the situation and to decide which of the three options to choose.

Emily choose to “hide” with her daughters and her husband, a former police officer, positioned himself to be able to “fight” if necessary. 

She says she felt calm and knew exactly what to do. She also remembered at the time that the training teaches you to consider all areas when planning to hide – even those that would normally be off-limits – like the freezer in the back of the Costco kitchen.

Emily shared her story during a safety talk to open a meeting at work recently. She said: “I can’t reiterate enough how helpful the training was that day.”

It is mandatory for all U.S. salaried to complete Active Shooter Training by Dec. 31. The training is also available as optional training for hourly employees and employees outside the U.S.