Safety in schools: how to handle crisis situations with an active attacker

Attacks on schools and other soft targets have been increasing in recent years in the United States, Europe and the Czech Republic. Any institution where a lot of people move around every day can become a target, and an attack can happen at any time. Attacks in the world and the shooting at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University have shown that the first minutes decide the outcome. In addition, the attacker does not have to have a firearm. Even a knife or other commonly available object can endanger the lives of pupils and staff.

Police arrival time depends on the location and circumstances of the incident. Employees therefore need to know what to do before help arrives. Practice establishes who takes charge, how to warn others and how to reach safety.

The basic procedure for an active shooter attack in a building is: Run - Hide - Fight. Učitelé a další zaměstnanci školy ale nejsou v budově sami za sebe. Odpovídají i za bezpečí žáků a jejich cílem je ochránit před útočníkem všechny osoby v budově. Musí přesunout žáky do bezpečných prostor, použít výstražné systémy, včas uzamknout místnosti a správně komunikovat s žáky i s bezpečnostními složkami. Bez připraveného plánu a nácviku roste riziko chyb, které mohou stát život.

Who is GBH Academy?

GBH Academy is the educational division of the GBH Group and prepares schools, institutions and companies for crisis situations, including an active shooter attack. We will teach your staff to act quickly, protect lives and limit damage. GBH Academy is an accredited educational institution of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (AK/I-48/2025, protection of soft targets). GBH Group Security Director is Lumír Němec. He served for over ten years with URNA, then commanded the Special Operations Unit (SOG) of the Military Police and completed missions in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. He cooperated with foreign units SAS, Delta Force, GIGN, GSG 9 and RAID.

Our instructors have experience in the military, police and personal protection. We design each programme around that experience and the organisation’s premises. Our references show examples of work with schools and other institutions.

How does the training work and how can you finance it?

A course for educators lasts 8×45 minutes. We can adjust the scope and content according to the operation of your school. In the beginning, we will explain the basics of soft target protection, stages and types of brute force attacks. We will show how to behave during an attack, how to cooperate with the armed forces and how to ensure a safe evacuation. You will then try everything in an active shooter attack simulation, where you will test your reactions and decision-making under stress.

If a school plans to fund the programme through OP HOW, it must check the conditions of the specific funding call and its project. Neither the course title nor accreditation guarantees that the expense is eligible. We will provide details of the programme’s content, duration and price for the assessment.

You can see how the training looks in practice on the YouTube channel GBH Academy. Najdete tam záznamy kurzů ze základních a středních škol v Kralovicích, Přerově a Šumavských Hošticích. "The training was beneficial in that I compared things that we lack at school, which we don't have here and what needs to be secured, because children are the most important thing we have. I would definitely recommend the training to other schools as well," the course was evaluated by the principal of Šumavská Hoštice elementary school, Ing. Petra Vaňková.

In addition to the Active Attacker training, GBH Academy prepares first aid courses, cyber security courses and cyberbullying training. They are led by experts with many years of experience. You can find the entire offer of crisis preparedness on the website GBH Academy. Na Facebooku, Instagramu a TikToku nás najdete pod názvem GBH Academy.