COAL GROVE –– Voting wasn’t the only thing happening on Tuesday. The teachers and staff of Dawson-Bryant Schools participated in safety training at the high school as part of a teacher-in-service day.

ALICE, or Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate, training was given to the faculty going through different scenarios and techniques to use if there is ever an active shooter in the school.

Alert is to notify as many people as possible within the danger zone that a potentially life threatening risk exists; Lockdown is to secure in place; Inform is to continue to communicate the intruder’s location in real time; Counter is to interrupt the intruder and make it difficult or impossible to aim in last resort; and Evacuate is to remove yourself from the danger zone when it is safe.

“The first hour and a half we had a group discussion where anyone could ask questions,” Dawson-Bryant High School principal Dean Mader said. “Then we went through old lockdown procedures and looked at ways to improve them by using different techniques.”

Scott Wilson, of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, and Amanda Webb, with the Coal Grove Police Department and school resource officer at Dawson-Bryant High School, assisted with the training.

“ALICE is a different type of lockdown than the original lockdown procedure,” Webb said. “Anything you can do to make sure the intruder doesn’t come into the room, do it.”

Webb said placing different items in front of the door such as desks, tables or chairs to keep the children safe is very important.

“That’s the reason I’m here at the school,” Webb said.

To learn more about ALICE training in schools, visit www.alicetraining.com.