Government Debuts Reusable Statement For Next School Shooting, Just Needs A Name And A Number
After the third such attack since June, officials say a standardized form will save valuable time between incidents.
Following the latest school shooting, which left three dead and eight injured, the interior ministry announced a new one-page form intended to accompany future attacks of the same kind. The document, printed on sturdy cardstock so it can be wiped clean and used again, features two blank lines: one for the name of the school, one for the number of casualties.
Below the blanks sit four checkboxes marked "thoughts," "prayers," "under review," and "isolated incident," along with a dotted line where a date can be filled in later, once officials know whether they'll need the form again before the ink dries.
"We came together as one nation, again," read a sample quote printed in the margin as a formatting guide, attributed to no one in particular, "and we will keep coming together, repeatedly, for as long as this keeps happening."
A spokesperson for the initiative insisted the form was not an admission of anything, only a matter of efficiency, noting that reprinting an entire statement from scratch each time a shooting occurs "takes valuable minutes away from actually reviewing security measures," a phase of the process the form itself does not require anyone to complete.
Officials say the template will be stored in a binder labeled "Routine Response" at the ministry's front desk, within arm's reach, just in case.