A.L.I.C.E.

A.L.I.C.E.


Beginning in fall 2018, the Olympia School District will use A.L.I.C.E. protocols to train students and staff.

What is A.L.I.C.E.?

The A.L.I.C.E. program is designed to give a person, or group of people, who may find themselves in a violent, life-threatening situation, some mental and physical tools that could play a vital role in their survival. The program is designed so that anyone can employ the strategies.

 

A.L.I.C.E. stands for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

The basis of this new response plan is to provide staff and students more options. The five steps of A.L.I.C.E. are not linear. They can be used by staff and students in any order, as the situation develops. The number one goal of A.L.I.C.E. is to keep students and staff safe and away from harm.

A.L.I.C.E. training materials further define the acronym as the following:


Alert. Notify authorities and those in harm’s way of the danger at hand. It is important to be as clear and accurate with the information as possible. Remember to identify yourself, your location, the suspect information, type of weapon, direction of travel and a call back number. Don’t hang up unless your safety is compromised or you are directed to by the dispatcher.

 
Lockdown, or shelter in place. By locking down and barricading entry points, you are making yourself a hard target and creating a stronghold that nobody should be able to enter. Only police personnel may enter a locked down room.

 

Inform. Give real-time updates. This can be accomplished with things such as video surveillance equipment or public address systems. Updates during a violent intruder incident allow you to make sound decisions about how to react and what steps, if any, to take next. Updates can also act as good distracters for the intruder.

 

Counter the attacker as a last resort. There have been instances where victims did not have the ability to lockdown or get out because the violent incident occurred right next to them or they were in an area that was not securable. There is also the possibility of the intruder breaching a secured area. If this is the situation then the purpose of COUNTER is to physically interrupt the intruder’s thought process by disrupting their mental and physical actions, thus making it difficult or impossible for the intruder to aim. This is a strategy of last resort. Note: At the elementary schools, we will not teach OSD students to “counter,” but will teach them to follow their teacher’s direction in any emergency. 

 

Evacuate. Your goal here is to put as much time and distance as possible between you and the attacker. Do not use the same rally point as with a fire or earthquake drill. You will want to move much further away from this danger zone.

Parent Resources

Many organizations provide resources to help parents and teachers talk with children about violence. Below are some examples, and be sure to check back as this list will be updated.