By Yessica Bobadilla and Lesley Pastor
The Administration of Justice Department is offering their final workshop of the year to faculty and staff on emergency situations.
“When we look around and look at our readiness on a larger scale we really need to be ready to take care of ourselves,” said one of the program coordinators, Jason Hosea.
The coordinators picked workshops that they believed to be beneficial to faculty and staff. There are three separate trainings being offered which include fire extinguisher use, earthquake and evacuation procedures, and Automated Electronic Defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training.
“It’s valuable training and they [the Administration of Justice Dept.] are the ones who are trying to promote this, and we feel obligated to at least learn about what they are trying to promote,” said Marga R. Limon, Senior Office Assistant at ELAC.
The trainings are not mandatory, but valuable information is being discussed in these workshops.
“I think this would be better attended, we’ll have a better grasp of the importance of keeping ourselves safe and of course keeping the rest of the students safe,” said Limon.
Questions that are answered at the workshop range from: Do we hide? Run? Run away from the shooter?
Actions that are taught in the workshop suggest not to confront the shooter unless necessary.
For example if he or she comes into the room and there’s a group then you start to throw or hit them with anything that is at arm’s reach.
As taught in the workshops, in some cases, it may be OK to run away. The number one objective in all emergency situations is to protect yourself.
The training deals with all circumstances, which include dealing with unconscious people. Always make sure the person is conscious by asking them questions like, what is your name? Are you okay? If there isn’t a response, then you can check their pulse to see if they are breathing.
The AED is smart enough to tell you if you need it on a potential cardiac arrest, and the machine is portable and is an important device to use in life threatening situations.
The fire extinguisher workshop reviews the different alphabetical letters and their usage and is valuable for the different fires that can occur in the workplace or at home.
“The one that is most fun is the fire extinguisher,” said Limon.
The earthquake/evacuation procedure training is thought to be a precautionary measure for Californians.
“It’s not a matter of if things are going to happen. It’s a matter of when,” said Hosea.