The start of 2016 also marks the start of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation (501c3) Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response (FASTER) program’s fourth year. What began simply as a pilot class of 24 teachers and administrators shortly after the horrific murders at Sandy Hook elementary school has grown and expanded into a multi year safety program which is reaching schools across the country. Nationwide, schools and parents are demanding a truly effective way to handle the threat of extreme violence in their schools and our FASTER program provides just that at no cost to the district. The days of a “it won’t happen here” violence prevention plan are long gone, schools that are not using every tool available to them are now being held liable by their communities.
The initial three day FASTER training class is now just a small part of the entire safety program offered at no cost to any school which chooses to have armed staff as part of their school safety plan. The program now includes a Level 2 class for school staff to further develop their firearm, trauma medical, crisis and emergency management skills. 2015 saw the addition of an additional Level 3 class for districts who want to involve their entire community in the protection of their students. The Level 3 class takes place in the actual school district and includes not only armed school staff, but also local and county law enforcement officers, local emergency medical personnel and other school staff who will be at the school should an event occur. It is truly an awesome experience to witness an entire community coming together with the one shared goal of protecting the lives of students.
All of this has allowed us to reach over 400 teachers and administrators from 152 school districts in 63 of Ohio’s 88 counties in just the first three years. Beyond Ohio, we have had school staff from 6 states attend this free training. Also we have brought in instructors from as far away as Colorado to the see FASTER and take the program back to their home. With a budget for 2016 of another $150,000 we will see our Foundation’s total commitment to safe schools reach well over half a million dollars since we started in 2013.
But we are not done here, schools are demanding more and we are doing everything we can to help them along. For 2016 we have added more resources like our ‘Armed Staff Checklist’ which lays out in a simple format how a district can progress from the initial discussion of arming staff through the entire FASTER program and beyond. In 2016 we will also offer the trauma medical training separately so schools can involve additional staff who want to make a difference, but who are not part of the armed staff. The Eddie Eagle(r) gun safety program will be made available so the school district’s children can be safer from firearm accidents at home and in the community. Now in addition to the http://www.FASTERSavesLives.org website, we have both a Twitter ( @FASTERSaves ) and Facebook pages with daily updates on the program. Again in 2016 we will also bring you more informational seminars from subject matter experts such as Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, John Giduck, Massad Ayood, Phil Chalmers etc. Finally, starting in February, we will be offering interactive webinars to reach more people, provide more information and answer more questions about FASTER in an exciting interactive format.
What do you need to do to see FASTER in your school district?
1) Sign up for our FREE Newsletter
2) Follow us on Social Media Twitter @FASTERSaves and Facebook
3) Donate Here” (we are a 501c3 do donation may be tax deductible) we also need corporate sponsors to help us keep up with the program growth.
4) Get started with our Authorization-Checklist and FASTER-White-Paper
5) APPLY FOR TRAINING for your school staff
6) Share our videos and news stories with others to help us let people know what we are doing here in Ohio.
Introduction Video
Level 1 at TDI
Level 1 at Cerino
Level 3 (pt1)
Level 3 (pt2)
7) Contact us directly to have us meet with your school board, to get trauma medical or Eddie Eagle(r) training in your school or with any other questions you may have Contact Us
Joe Eaton
Program Director – FASTERSavesLives.org