Eliminating Failures in School Shooting Response

The National Center for Integrated Emergency Response (NCIER®) trains schools, police, fire, and EMS together so they respond from one cohesive playbook.

OVIEDO, Fla., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NCIER®, the services division of C3 Pathways, Inc., today announced an updated format for its School Safety and Violent Event Incident Management (SSAVEIM™) Train-the-Trainer course, which puts the right people in the room to learn and practice coordinated response — from the first 911 call through reunification, the process of returning every student to the right parent.

Course page: ncier.org/ssaveim/train-the-trainer

Reviews of past school attacks have pointed repeatedly to the same breakdowns: unclear command, information that does not move between agencies, delays in reaching the wounded, and confusion in the hours after the threat is down. None of them are failures of courage. They are failures of coordination — the failures this course addresses.

The updated SSAVEIM Train-the-Trainer course is designed for up to 30 trainer candidates in a deliberate mix: approximately ten school personnel, ten from law enforcement, and ten from fire and EMS, with emergency management participants encouraged. The course runs 16 hours across two days. Trainer candidates first work the course as students, moving through scenario after scenario with coaching. They then learn to facilitate those same scenarios, so they can deliver the training at home.

The classroom lecture has moved online, into SSAVEIM Foundations – a free course released September 1, 2026. It runs 13 short video modules totaling under an hour and gives everyone the same introduction to how a violent event unfolds and how the response functions across disciplines. Trainer candidates complete it before attending, and it remains open at no cost to anyone in a school or agency who wants that same picture.

Exercises run on Counterstrike® Terrain™, a digital map table from C3 Pathways that turns any map, satellite image, or floor plan into a full-size training surface, loaded with the host community's own campuses. Participants make decisions about the doors, corridors, and parking lots they already know, rather than a generic school.

Certified trainers keep the curriculum, LMS access, and the Active Shooter Incident Management (ASIM) Checklist™, developed by C3 Pathways and endorsed by the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) as the national standard for managing active shooter events. They hold a three-year trainer certificate and can repeat the training on their own schedule, with no further fee to NCIER. One delivery becomes a standing local capability rather than a single event.

SSAVEIM is designed to work alongside protocols schools and communities already use, including the Standard Response Protocol™ and Standard Reunification Method™ from The "I Love U Guys" Foundation. The course adds the integrated response picture around those protocols, showing how school and public safety operations connect during and after a violent event.

Orange County Public Schools personnel and Central Florida responders participated in the first delivery of the updated format in summer 2026.*

"School safety is not solved by one procedure or one profession working alone. Every discipline trains well inside its own lane. The gaps show up where their work connects. Two days of practicing those connections, on maps of their own campuses, changes what a community can do — and leaves people behind who keep that capability alive."

— Bill Godfrey, CEO of C3 Pathways and its services division, NCIER

Availability

SSAVEIM Train-the-Trainer is open to school districts, public safety agencies, and qualified organizations nationwide. Deliveries take place on site in the host community or at the NCIER Training Center in Oviedo, Florida. Course details and hosting requirements are at ncier.org/ssaveim/train-the-trainer. SSAVEIM Foundations, the free prerequisite, is at ncier.org/ssaveim/foundations.

About NCIER

The National Center for Integrated Emergency Response (NCIER), the services division of C3 Pathways, Inc., delivers integrated response training for active shooter and hostile events. With more than 20 years of experience, NCIER delivers hands-on, scenario-driven training to law enforcement, fire, EMS, school personnel, and other emergency responders nationwide. Its programs include School Safety and Violent Event Incident Management (SSAVEIM), Active Shooter Incident Management (ASIM™), and the ASIM Checklist, developed by C3 Pathways and endorsed by the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) as the national standard for managing active shooter events, compliant with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Learn more at ncier.org.

Media kit: https://marketing.c3pathways.com/ssaveim-train-the-trainer-media-kit

*Reference to Orange County Public Schools describes participation in the first delivery of the updated format and does not constitute an endorsement.

NCIER® is the services division of C3 Pathways, Inc. • ASIM™, SSAVEIM™, Counterstrike®, Counterstrike Terrain™ and Active Shooter Incident Management Checklist™ are trademarks of C3 Pathways, Inc. • The "I Love U Guys" Foundation, Standard Response Protocol™ and Standard Reunification Method™ are trademarks of The "I Love U Guys" Foundation, used with permission under license.

SOURCE National Center for Integrated Emergency Response (NCIER), division of C3 Pathways, Inc.