Protect Your Kids - A Child Abduction Warning from Minnesota

This is a real incident that happened this weekend (August 2013) at the Mall of America in Minnesota... but it could happen to anyone, any where at any time.  Life can change in an instant.

A friend of mine was at the Mall of America today with her 16 month old daughter.  A few steps from a busy store's exit, she paused and turned to the side to check out some merchandise, momentarily taking her hand off of the stroller she had been pushing.

That's it.  A split second.

When she turned back, a stranger had his hand on the handle of her stroller.  The entire incident, from beginning to end, happened in a flash.  A quick, innate reaction had the mom grab the handle of the stroller as the man, cognizant of being detected, slipped out the exit and away in the crowd.

And that's how it happens.  Darkness waiting for an opportunity.  Watching.  Planning.  Scouting, then stalking.  Striking.

Around 7% of child abductions happen in stores or malls.

Adam John Walsh (November 14, 1974 – July 27, 1981) was an American boy who was abducted from a Sears department store at the Hollywood Mall in Hollywood, Florida, on July 27, 1981, and later found murdered and decapitated. Walsh's death earned national publicity. His story was made into the 1983 television film Adam, seen by 38 million people in its original airing. Walsh's father, John Walsh, became an advocate for victims of violent crimes and the host of the television program America's Most Wanted.  (source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh)

Not much has changed since that fateful day when Adam Walsh was abducted from a Florida mall.  Things could have ended tragically today at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  Life gives you no second chance.  Safeguard your kids, as predators are waiting for you to take your eyes off of them.  Life can be forever altered in a split second.  Be vigilant.

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Personal Alarms

I had a very interesting conversation this afternoon with a director from OSHA from one of our largest States.  There's a growing awareness of the benefits of "arming" mental health staff with personal alarms.  As he and I talked about the strategy behind the use of carrying a personal alarm, I thought it might be valuable information to share with you and preserve here on the blog.

• Carrying this alarm should make you more vigilant.  Get in the habit of practicing increased situational awareness
• Pull the plastic tab and discard it.  Test the alarm for 1 second by pulling the pin and quickly replacing it so that you understand what it sounds like.

·      Carrying this Vigilant alarm has two intended benefits in the event of an emergency:

1. Obviously, it gets the attention of anyone in the immediate vicinity
2. More importantly, it disrupts the thought process of the potential assailant.  They don’t know what it is, and they don’t know how to stop it.  All they know is something unexpected just happened, introducing the element of surprise to your side and buying you a critical 10-15 seconds for you to act

Never feel apologetic if you are ever in a situation that causes you to pull the pin.  You may never know what the results might have been had you not taken action.