Professional Drywall Construction, Inc. (PDC), a leading commercial drywall company headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, recently invited the professionals from Protective Advanced Safety Services (PASS) to their facility to provide customized training and preparedness plans designed to educate and empower workers with regard to active shooter situations.
“This is training we all hope we’ll never need; however, given all the scenarios we keep hearing about around the country, we decided to provide our team every advantage should such a situation occur,” said PDC Owner Ron Perry. “We’re strong believers in preparation, and the skills we learned during this training are something we can take with us wherever we go. We saw this as a benefit we could provide to our employees.”
PASS co-founders John Nettis and Steven Grasso conducted the four-hour training. They are both seasoned law enforcement officers who have risen through the ranks of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and the Agawam Police Department, respectively. Skilled in active shooter response and emergency preparedness, they strive to elevate workplace safety by offering role-playing scenarios, strategies and suggestions to employees, and creating custom-tailored, effective emergency action plans relevant to businesses as well as schools, places of worship and other public places.
Grasso noted, “Anyone can be vulnerable because of their public interactions. Our training is designed to give people the information and resources they need to reduce their risk of harm. We customize our training to each location by visiting in advance to identify vulnerabilities unique to the property. Then, when we provide training, it’s customized, relevant and actionable if an emergency occurs.”
Perry agrees that the training he and his team received was all of those things. “It was intense and effective,” he said. “The average person is not used to the sound of gunfire, so it can be paralyzing when you hear it. This training was a great blend of information, proven strategies and hands on activities, including the firing of a gun loaded with blanks. We were forced to think about ‘what we would do if,’ and then develop action plans and strategies. The experience was invaluable.”
To learn more about PDC and its projects across New England, visit profdrywall.com. For more information about PASS or to schedule a confidential consultation or training session, visit TrainWithPass.com.