Editor’s Note: Dave Brackins, Regional Security Advisor with the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, will be holding Security Training for Synagogues soon for the High Holidays. To help our Synagogue representatives, the information that follows outlines the various training classes offered. Please schedule this important training as soon as possible to help Dave with planning. To reach out to Dave for information and potential dates for these important sessions, email dbrackins@jewishrichmond.org.
Guardian – An excellent course designed for anyone to help them be active bystanders. It can also be useful for your greeter/usher team to be better active bystanders and prepared to provide that layer of security around your facility, as well as to recognize and deal with people who may be experiencing a crisis or have mental issues.
This training also is very effective for any organization that has an outward-facing staff, either receptionists, or event teams, i.e. groups who hold public events. Training time is approximately 1 hour.
Stop the Bleed – This course is taught in conjunction with my partners at the Central Virginia Stop the Bleed Coalition. This is a class on how to respond to a serious bleeding incident.
The course was born out of the tragic Sandy Hook School shootings to help lay people respond to serious bleeding injuries. The course has two components – a lecture and then a skills session. I can teach the lecture portion virtually, then teach the skills session in person.
Another option is for attendees to go to stopthebleed.org, the national website for the program, and take the class virtually, followed by a skills session in person.
Training time – lecture 1 hour; Skills session – depending on number of participants, but usually about 45 minutes.
BeAware – Introduction to Situational Awareness (S/A) – This is the SCN course that I like to call, “Get your head out of your phone class”
We cover S/A in almost every environment, at work, at home, in crowds, driving. It is an excellent class and builds towards the next in the series Countering Active Threat Training (CATT). There are several videos that demonstrate the principles we cover. Training time is about 90 minutes with time for Q&A.
CATT – This is SCN’s version of active shooter training. We refer to it as an active threat because we discuss the different methods of attack, firearms, edged weapons, vehicles, and explosives.
During this course, I can have a survivor of the Tree of Life attack attend to discuss his experiences and how training saved his life.
I also will invite local law enforcement partners to join in the training (as I do with all my classes) to have them share any stories or what they expect when they arrive on the scene. Training time is 90 minutes.
