Be Prepared for a Mass Shooting: Emergency Preparation

Transcription:

Intro: It's Your Health Radio, a special podcast series presented by Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Here's Melanie Cole.

So this is really not a discussion anyone wants to have. We don't want to think about it. But think about it, we must. Our kids have a unique issue we did not have. They must be prepared for school shootings and mass attacks in a way that we never did. And I hate that we even have to talk about it, but we're going to talk today.

Welcome to It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. And joining me is Dr. Bud Lawrence. He's a frequent guest on this podcast. He's the Medical Director of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital's Emergency Department. And with us today, our special guests for this very important podcast, we have Dr. Lawrence's two daughters, Maci and Cambria. I'm so glad to have you all with us. This is really important that we get a podcast like this out there that we discuss this and that we get two teenagers really involved in this discussion because in my opinion, I feel that people like David Hogg, for example, do you girls know who he is?

Maci Lawrence: I don't think I do.

Melanie: So David Hogg is one of the kids that survived the Parkland shooting. And now, I think he's 22. I don't know. Dr. Lawrence, what is he, about 22, 23? And he is such a huge advocate. He's an amazing advocate for gun safety and school safety. So before we get into all of this, Dr. Lawrence, I'd like for you as an emergency medicine physician give us a little information about gun stats and the types of mass attacks that we really should be concerned with.

Dr Bud Lawrence: Well, first off, thank you so much for having us on your show today. I think this is very important information to get out to the lay public. I think everyone's fairly aware because of news media coverage, that there really has been an increase in school shootings in particular, much less active shooter incidences that involve businesses and other areas of worship and things like that. So really when you look at school shootings, historically this is something that we've really always had to contend with. But really prior to 2018, those numbers were relatively small, anywhere from about 14 to to 60 school shootings a year, which does not sound like a small number. But when you compare it to the numbers from 2018, '19 and '20, those numbers are over a hundred school shootings a year. We've really seen those numbers essentially over double from what our historical values are.

So I do think it's something that our school districts, our teachers, and most importantly, our students need to understand and need to have strategies to contend with moving forward. Because I do think this has really sadly and unfortunately become part of our daily lives in terms of things that students are concerned about, school districts and teachers are also concerned about obviously. We want to be able to protect our children and hopefully decrease these large numbers.

Melanie: Well, I certainly agree with that. And so Dr. Lawrence, before I move on to your lovely daughters to really hear from the kids, because, you know, we're hearing from kids more and more. Like I mentioned, David Hogg, and we've got Greta, who's talking about climate, these kids are really now so much more aware than we were about so many things. Talking to our kids about this. You're an ER doc. And I imagine even you think to yourself, "How do I discuss this stuff with my kids?" So tell us how we discuss this stuff with our kids.

Dr Bud Lawrence: I think really when it comes down to it, you need to just have sensible one-on-one discussions with your children. And I think that honesty is important. I think that one of the ways that we can help deal with these tragedies moving forward to protect our children is to make sure that they're educated about not only what to do if there is an active shooter situation, but also how to manage not only injuries to themselves, but injuries to their friends or teachers or other people that could be on campus.

And I think that having a good game plan, like any type of an emergency, any type of a crisis, having a game plan is almost more than half the battle. If you know what to do in that situation, I think that you're much more able to be an active party to make that situation better when everything is crumbling down around you, as opposed to just cowering in the corner because you don't know what to do and you're overwhelmed by the situation. I think education is really important.

And to that end, I personally am very proud of my daughters who they have started a non-profit called Keep The Pressure where they were able to provide bleed kits to every classroom in every junior high school and high school in our local Santa Clarita Valley as well as many other schools across the country. And along with bleed kits, they're able to provide the education, which again, that is most important, is to understand what to do in those situations. And that's something my daughters can talk more about since it is their non-profit, not mine.

Melanie: And I want to know that from them. And the fact is that's really amazing because it's about the panic, right? And if you panic, which we all would do naturally, then things can get exacerbated. So I want to talk to your daughters for a minute, Dr. Lawrence, and you'll come on for other podcasts, you know, but we'll still talk. But Maci, let's start with you, sweetie. You're 15, yes? Tell me a little bit about what you're afraid of. Your dad's an ER doc. How do you deal with the fear at 15 years old in high school thinking about what could happen?

Maci Lawrence: Yeah. I'd just say especially the past couple of years, definitely as most kids my age probably too, I definitely do have a fear of school shootings and everything when I go to school, but it's kind of just something people might have to deal with these days. But I definitely think that it's kind of out of my control in a way, but something that is in my control is having the knowledge. And like my dad said, we provided the bleed kits, but we've also provided knowledge. So my hope is that people my age and people who go to my school and just in our community and everything, because of the Keep The Pressure bleed kits and like our educational videos and stuff, how I've been getting through this for the most part is just feeling more prepared because I feel like this preparedness makes me feel like if I were ever in that situation, I would know what to do. And, yeah, I think that's really what kind of helped me deal with that, is knowing that I would be prepared in that situation.

Melanie: You're taking back the power, that's what you're doing. And I'm going to get choked up like a few times on this podcast, so we can be sure of that. And that is just wonderful, Maci. And I'm sorry it feels like that and that this is your norm. Now, Cambria, I want you to tell us a little bit about Keep The Pressure, this non-profit organization that works to get the bleed kits that Maci was just talking about into the school and what those bleed kits really are. Tell us a little bit about that.

Cambria Lawrence: Absolutely. So, as my father said, Keep The Pressure, we are a non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating and providing the tools to help people in any event, not even active shootings or mass shootings, but accidents, natural disasters, any event that contains severe bleeding. And those kits, they consist of tourniquets, compressive dressings, special gauze that are infused with Kaolin, which helps your body clot faster, trauma shears, emergency blankets and gloves, of course.

And we want to get this information on how to stop severe bleeding out to as many people as we can. Because as you were saying, when an incident such as an active shooter rises, it is so overwhelming to all the senses and so terrifying that your body will flip into emergency mode. So having this information and knowing really what it means to be able to save a life in that situation when your body's able to use it is so important.

Melanie: Well, Dr. Lawrence, I think you've got a couple of ER docs on your hands right here. Wow. You must be so proud. Cambria, I want to stick with you for a minute, because you're almost out of high school, right? You got one year left.

Cambria Lawrence: One year left, senior year.

Melanie: One year left, senior year. My daughter just dealt with it and she had senior year with COVID. It was very unusual as you all know. So what do you envision as a way for you to take back that power when you are out of high school? Because in high school, these drills are very formalized and I'm going to have Maci tell us a little bit about the drills, but they're very formalized. But in college, it doesn't really work that way. What do you envision as you go off to college? This empowered young woman that started a non-profit organization, what do you want to see happen? What do you want to do with it once you're in college?

Cambria Lawrence: Well, I think regardless of where you are in life, the message is really the same. This knowledge and this wealth of information for how to stop severe bleeding and how to literally save a life, it doesn't end when you leave high school. That knowledge is invaluable, regardless of where you go. You can't put a price on it. Having that in your back pocket, whether you learned it in high school and someday when you're 30 or maybe even 40 or 50, you have a natural disaster and somebody needs your care, that knowledge doesn't just go away. It comes back into you. And I think that's really what's the most important.

I think going into college, even if it isn't as formalized, we've all been taught as kids starting in kindergarten and all the way through high school what to do in mass shooter drills. And I think it's the unfortunate and unspoken reality that we have been trained for this our whole life as it becomes more and more present in our everyday life. So I think really it's the same thing as you know what to do for an active shooter drill, but do you know what to do afterwards?

Melanie: Isn't that so important? Wow. You girls are just absolutely wonderful. This is amazing to me. So Maci, tell us what the drills are like. Because as people of a certain age, I'm 57, I don't know how old Dr. Lawrence is, but I know that, you know, we saw films about drills for the Cold War and nuclear attacks and things like that, what are your drills like?

Maci Lawrence: So I've actually been doing the active shooter drills, I'd say since probably around kindergarten, like Cambria was saying. But basically what we've done well, and, well, because of COVID, I haven't done one in a while, but what we have done is we typically turn off the lights in our classroom and we lock the door and close the blinds and everything, and everyone kind of gets into a certain corner of the classroom and we're all kind of grouped up, I guess. But yeah, the drills are obviously very important. That's like the initial what we should be doing if we were ever in a situation like that. But like Cambria was saying too, anything is possible so that's very helpful. But if anyone were to be injured or anything like that, it's still great to have the kits and everything, but yeah, that's what mostly the drills have been like.  

Melanie: So Maci, you're still going to be in high school after Cambria goes off to college. And I think one of the new things that we're hearing about is if you see something, say something, right? So for both of you girls, but Maci, I'm just asking you this question. How do your classmates and you feel about reporting something unusual, knowing there's a difference between reporting, tattling, gossiping? You're providing important information that may prevent one of these shootings either directly or anonymously. Tell us what you guys are taught as far as if you see something, say something. What is it you want people your age to look for to be able to tell an adult and say, "You know what? This kid has been putting stuff on Facebook" or "This kid, you know, made a really scary TikTok" or whatever it is. What are you guys looking for?

Maci Lawrence: I definitely think because I could see how people my age could be like, "Oh, that's a little weird, but I don't think I really want to say anything" or something like that. But I think if there's any sort of doubt in your mind as a person my age, you should just say something just in case, because like you said, you could prevent something so serious. But personally, for me, if I saw anything like that, I would say something to somebody, whether it's my parents or the principal or anybody. it might not even be a bad thing, but I might as well say it just in case, because if it prevented something serious, like that's completely worth it to me. But I would just say for people my age, definitely say something even if you have any sort of doubt in your mind, because it could definitely prevent something like a school shooting that's very, very serious.

Cambria Lawrence: Can I add something on to that?

Melanie: Absolutely.

Cambria Lawrence: So I agree exactly with what Maci said, that I think even before, like they've been teaching that you report something suspicious, it's really important to look out for people who may need just a little bit of kindness in their life. Obviously, you have to be in an extremely dark place to consider the thought of attacking other kids at your school. And so really, I've heard stories of just smiling to them or saying hi, or asking, "How are you doing? How was your day?" If you see someone struggling, reaching out to them really could be the difference between a school shooting, just as important as reporting something suspicious that you see.

Melanie: You're so lovely. You are both so lovely. And again, Dr. Lawrence, how proud you must be. So, Dr. Lawrence, I would like you as the ER doc, parents who are talking to their kids about it and the kids know more about some of this than we do, but really what do you want us to know about if something like this is to happen? What are some of the most important points you'd like to make about staying alert, keep the pressure, learning life-saving skills? And with or without COVID, I mean, does COVID kind of make all this go out the window? You know, all the COVID guidelines kind of chuck out the window, if we are worrying about a mass shooting. Give us some of the more important emergency medicine points you want us to know.

Dr Bud Lawrence: Well, the first thing I'd say is that one school shooting is too many school shootings. So I think that there needs to be a concerted effort to assist with much like Cambria mentioned with mental health concerns. We really have to address mental health in our children in our communities. And this is very underserved area of our healthcare system actually. It's very challenging for adolescents to get the mental help that they may need. And I think that is something that as a country, we really need to address. And that's something that I think that will receive more focus and that's actually been magnified during COVID. I think that a lot of children have struggled through COVID, not having the social interactions of school and that's put a little bit more pressure on them.

So I think as a parent, I think it's so important in this time of lack of communication, all kids seem to be on their devices or, you know, really on their video games or their computers. As parents, know your children, reach out to your children, try to understand when your children may be in a time of distress from a mental health standpoint or that they may be somewhat unstable for whatever reason and understand when your children may be at risk for something like this. And that's not to say that every school shooting happens by a student. There are other areas of our population that commit these heinous acts. You know, keep your eyes open. As you brought up, you know, let's report things when they seem to be out of the ordinary.

I think that as a parent understanding you have a child that's at risk and also understand that if you're a parent of a student that's going to school, which is every student for the most part, every child, to support them and address their concerns if they're having stress about the possibility of school shootings. Remember these things are in the news and we really have to support our children and let them know that these things are very unlikely to occur at their school. But of course, as we've seen in our own community, even though you never think this would happen here, we had a tragedy with the Saugus High School shooting that was essentially unspeakable for our community, which is something we've never experienced. And that just shows if it happens here, it can happen anywhere.

So preparedness is so important. If you are a parent, make sure your child understands what to do in that situation. We always kind of preach run, hide, fight. Those are the order of operations when you're in an active shooter situation. I think Maci kind of went over some of what happens with their drills. And I think that it's important to make sure your students are ready and prepared much like an earthquake or any other natural disaster. Have a plan in place for how your child can manage an active shooter situation. And I think understanding and having that education and preparedness is going to set their mind at ease somewhat, and also help usher them through that situation should it ever occur to them. And hopefully, it never does.

Melanie: Hopefully, it definitely never does. And Cambria and Maci, one of you can answer this. Maci, why don't you, because you've still got a few years left in this kind of school system. I mean, you both do, but what do you feel the role of the school system is and the community in general, to help to, you know, not only stop the school shootings, which is what we would like, but to mitigate? You know, your sister mentioned mental health and she mentioned kindness and kind of, you know, red flagging, but then treating that person with respect and getting them the help that they need before these kinds of attacks happen. What do you want the school system to hear from you, a sophomore in high school about these kinds of things?

Maci Lawrence: Well, I'm sure our school system and everything knows this, but I definitely think that obviously these school shootings and everything are probably one of the things that people my age are like afraid of. It's definitely for me, I'd say, probably my biggest fear. And so I know that a lot at my school, there's a lot of clubs and stuff that have to do with mental health and everything. And I actually think personally for Valencia High School, that they do a pretty good job trying to check in on their students' mental health and everything. But I would just say to continue doing that because like Cambria was saying, mental health has a part in these kinds of situations, I'd say.

So I think that, especially at our age, mental health is just very important for everything like that. But yeah, I think I would just like our school systems and everything to know that this is definitely something that we struggle with. But since we have the kits and everything especially, even just something that I think is for me personally is that even just having the kits in the classroom makes me feel more safe just being there, because I know that it's very unlikely, but if anything were to happen, it's very helpful to just know that it was there. But yeah, I just think mental health is very important too.

Melanie: Well, there's a mental health epidemic going on. I mean, I've got two kids and I see what COVID did and how it really changed some of the views. Now, Cambria, I would like you, before we wrap up here, to tell everyone about the Keep The Pressure kits, how to get them and really what you want the message to be from inspiring and very important podcast about mass shootings, mass attacks. You young girls are the future and you are the ones that are going to help to guide us. So tell us where to find those kits and what message you would like people to know.

Cambria Lawrence: So we have a website called keepthepressure.com. Please go ahead and check it out. And we have kits for purchase there. And as I stated, we are a non-profit, so we try to provide those at the lowest possible price that we can, so we're not making any money off of them, just so that we can get you the supplies that you need in case of an incident such as a mass shooting.

And along with the selling of kits on that website, even if you don't want to buy one, please go ahead and check out our educational video, where we show you how to use the tools. Because even if you don't have an item like a tourniquet handy, a belt or shoelace or a shirt will work. Like my dad says, if you are in an event such as that, it is a lot more helpful to use an item that isn't necessarily a tourniquet or a clean gauze, but use a t-shirt and improvise because this information really is important.

And as for the main message, I would just say it really is our motto for Keep The Pressure, but protection through preparedness. Whether it is being kind to others or having the information that you need in case of an active shooter situation, try prepare as best you can because really incidences such as these are out of your control. So by having the knowledge that you need beforehand, you can hopefully make a difference.

Melanie: Wow. I would love to stop there, but I got to give your dad a chance. Really, you're so impressive, both of you girls. Formidable, Dr. Lawrence. You have two formidable daughters here and kind and respectful. Gosh, what we really should all be teaching our kids. So why don't you come on and give us a little wrap up. Tell us how much you love your daughters and how impressed you are with everything that they're doing.

Dr Bud Lawrence: Listen, there aren't enough words to explain how impressed I am with them. This is their own project. They raised over a hundred thousand dollars to fund putting these bleed kits in all these classrooms locally. And they're still trying to get these kits out to businesses, places of worship, other schools, and they've been able to do this throughout the whole country. I'm so impressed with their drive and their understanding of how other students feel when they walk on campus every day and that gnawing sense of uncertainty in the back of every student's mind.

Again, this is such a tragic situation that this has become part of our daily lives. And I'm so proud of my daughters to really do their part to try to make a significant measurable difference in these students' lives. And the fact that their bleed kits were used during the Saugus School shooting tragedy, you know, it saddens us this ever happened, but we are grateful, they are grateful, that their kits were in the right place at the right time to be of service.

And I think that they've always said this, that they hope their kits are never ever used. And that's the goal. But if there is a time where they're needed, I sure am proud that they've been able to get those kits out there so that they can be an instrument of help in that time of need.

Melanie: One-hundred percent. What a podcast this was. And I was on the website and, again, so impressive. And I will buy a bleed kit for the local school right near my house and probably have one in our house because that's a really good idea, and make a donation as well. What a wonderful thing you ladies are doing. And thank you so much for joining us today.

And to learn more, including how to order Keep The Pressure kits, please visit keepthepressure.com. That's Keep The Pressure dot com. That concludes this episode of It's Your Health Radio With Henry Mayo Newhall hospital. I hope that you all will share this particular podcast and all of them, of course, but this one with your friends and family on your social channels, because we all learned something today. Maybe not something we wanted to hear, but something as parents we needed to hear. So I hope that you'll share this show, subscribe, rate review, all of the things that you would do with podcasts. You can listen on iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google Podcast, everywhere podcasts are played. Of course, you can also listen at henrymayo.com for more information.

I'm Melanie Cole. Thank you so much for joining us today.