How ready are Des Moines' major employers for an active-shooter situation?

Danny Lawhon Lauren Ehrler
The Des Moines Register

A woman opened fire on the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday, leaving three employees wounded. The suspect, Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, apparently killed herself.

Billy Fox, Security and Emergency Preparedness Manager at Vermeer speaks to workers after their lunch about armed shooter training on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Pella.

The chaotic scene, captured in photos and video, showed hundreds of employees fleeing from the building for safety and raising questions in other offices nationwide about what workers should do if an armed threat enters their workplace.

There have been no armed threats or active shooters at Des Moines businesses in recent memory, said Sgt. Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department.

NEXT STEPS:What to do if there's an active shooter in your workplace

We surveyed the 10 largest workplaces that have regional or global headquarters in central Iowa. Here's what they told us about how each prepares employees in case of an active-shooter situation:

Wells Fargo & Company

  • Main location: Des Moines, West Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 14,500

Wells Fargo has active shooter protocols for all of its offices, including regional hubs, said corporate communications vice president Steve Carlson, and has had them for some time. Details on how that information is disseminated to employees was not immediately provided.  

Unity Point Health — Des Moines

  • Main locations: Des Moines, West Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 8,026

UnityPoint Health — Des Moines provides active-shooter education, planning and drills for each of their campus locations, said Mike Wilwol, manager of the organization's department of public safety.

"We conduct on-going education sessions bi-monthly that are open to all staff to attend so that our training is consistently in the forefront of our mind and we are able to quickly put our policy into action should the need ever arise," Wilwol said in an email to the Register.

In addition to training, UnityPoint has increased the number of safe rooms and a created a system-wide mass notification system. UnityPoint facilities are also staffed by professional public safety officers who receive additional specialized training.

Principal

  • Main location: Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 6,500

Principal spokesperson Erica Jensen said the company does have emergency preparedness protocols in place but declined to provide specific details.

The company offered an official statement through global security director Sandy Cowie:

“We’re committed to working to ensure a safe and security place to work and do business. We believe preparedness and a solid workplace violence program can help us be better prepared.

Our workplace violence program is multi-faceted and has been in place for years. It aligns with industry standards, and we continually evolve the program to meet emerging threats and best practices.”

Hy-Vee, Inc.

  • Main location: West Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 6,400

Hy-Vee does have an active shooter protocol in place, but they do not release the details of the plan to the public, said communications director Amy McCoy.

Nationwide

  • Main location: Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 4,525

Nationwide has corporate active shooter protocols in place, including employees who oversee training and information implementation, said spokesperson David Gilligan.

The company has the capability to notify associates by email, voicemail and texting in the event of an incident, he said.

Nationwide employs response and incident management teams that meet regularly to manage its plans of action, and all Nationwide associates participate in required annual workplace-safety training and emergency-preparation drills.

"Our policy has been in place since the Des Moines office first opened its doors, but we constantly refine and improve our processes and tools in response to changing environments," Gilligan said.

Mercy Medical Center

  • Main locations: Des Moines, West Des Moines
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 4,228

At Mercy Medical Center, an emergency management coordinator and public safety manager oversee the organization's emergency operations plan and workplace violence protocols. They determine risks through a hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA).

Training sessions are held monthly within the public safety department and larger-scale drills specific to active violence are held "every couple of years," according to an email sent to the Register. the next exercise is planned for 2019.

Post-Sandy Hook, Mercy reviewed their efforts to mitigate and prepare for potential active violence events in the workplace through training, exercise and adding additional security measures, said Mercy spokesman Gregg Lagan.

John Deere

  • Main locations: Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 3,089

John Deere had not responded to media inquiries as of Wednesday afternoon.

Vermeer Corporation

  • Main location: Pella
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 2,500

Vermeer Corporation has a "robust" armed-threat training program in place, said Liz Sporrer, corporate communications manager.

"The need was very, very evident," Sporrer said, in light of recent events. "You always have to have a plan."

The plan was developed over the past year by Billy Fox, security and emergency preparedness manager for the company. Employees across the Vermeer campus underwent training this week and the plan will be part of future on-boarding procedures for new employees. 

DuPont Pioneer

  • Main location: Johnston
  • Employees in Des Moines-area: 2,495

DuPont Pioneer has global active-shooter protocols in place company-wide that are made known to employees.

From spokesman Gregg Schmidt: "DuPont conducts safety trainings at our sites and facilities globally that cover a wide variety of incidents, which includes active shooter situations, to ensure our employees and guests are safe."

Pella Corporation

  • Main location: Pella
  • Employees in Des Moines-area:  2,224

The company has both lockdown and active-shooter emergency plans in place for its office and manufacturing areas, according to spokesperson Maria Reitan. Annual training sessions, held in February, for all employees are included.

The plans were developed several years ago, following local events that led to school and college campus lock-downs, Reitan said in an email. Pella Corporation's threat response team leveraged the expertise of local law enforcement, sheriff’s department and the Department of Homeland Security to create the training materials.