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Texas State Has Special Program To Train Responders For Emergencies


For 10 years, the Texas Governor’s Office has been funding a rapid response training program here in Central Texas to deal with emergency situations such as the Connecticut school shooting.

The program is called ALERRT, Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training. It teaches officers and first responders what to do in the case of a mass shooting.

“We train the police officers to get there fast and stop the violence,” says Terry Nichols, Assistant Director, ALERRT.

Local offices regularly participate in exercises to work on their reactions and teamwork in the case of a school shooting, terrorist attack and even biological incident. ALERRT directors have now decided to share this crucial information in a book to be released next year.

"We talk about how we train the police officers, the methodologies behind them and also go over some of the events that have happened and get into the real details of how they happened what the law enforcement response was and what we learned from those events,” says Nichols.

A father, who lost his daughter in a school shooting, established a free downloadable program for school administrators.

“There were some weaknesses and how schools handled these events. There were inconsistent policies, procedures, so he developed the “I Love You Guys Foundation,” says Nichols.

The program includes four simple protocols faculty can teach students to keep casualties to a minimum.

Nichols says some schools in our area are working to adopt the protocols established by the “I Love You Foundation.” He would not say which schools.

If you would like to learn more about this program, go to iluvuguys.org.