Are We Ready in Case of a Campus Shooting?

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine college students’ perception, attitude, and knowledge of an active shooter incident in order to identify and aid their future campus public health emergency preparedness training. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study, and a total of 455 undergraduate and graduate students were recruited from a variety of majors enrolled in 19 randomly selected classes. A 22-question semi-structured survey questionnaire was distributed and completed by the participants. Data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: Approximately, 82% of the participants indicated that they would be panicked or terrified during a campus shooting and more than half of the participants thought that an active shooter incident could happen to any campus and perceived that their current institution was prepared for it. Participants presented moderate knowledge of an active shooter preparedness. Less than 32% of the participants had prior gun violence preparedness training, and more than 83% of them emphasized the importance of routine emergency preparedness training. There was no clear trend indicating that a higher student classification led to a better preparedness. Conclusions: Attention should largely be given to developing consistent, tailored, and evidence-based institutional emergency training programs to facilitate a campus-wide readiness.