The deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland is raising awareness about the need for training to handle an active shooter situation. The Largo High School Parent Teacher Student Association teamed up with Largo Police on Feb. 20 to help students and teachers get prepared.

• Police presented ALICE: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate
• Slides, 911 call from Columbine shooting used in presentation
• Police: "Worst thing you can do is nothing."

Police presented a program called ALICE at the group's regular meeting. It stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate."

"The goal is not to be a sitting duck," said Officer Keith Bowling with Largo Police. "We start off with baby steps. We start with little things like barricading doors, how to effectively barricade doors, then we move up to what happens if the shooter actually enters the room and we teach some of the countering techniques and other techniques."

Officers used slides and even a 911 call from Columbine to illustrate their points.

"I think it's time of the school system to regain control of the situation and not count on the government to change," said Karen Broadwater, a teacher who attended the meeting with her high school senior daughter, Amanda.

"Now there's a ton more stuff going on like this, so people need to know what to do to help the authorities keep it under control," said Amanda.

Police told the audience often the worst thing you can do is to do nothing.

They gave these tips for people who might find themselves facing a violent intruder:

• Evacuate if at all possible to do so safely
• If you can't evacuate, try to barricade yourself in a place the intruder can't penetrate
• If the intruder gets through the barricade, look for common items like water tanks or fire extinguishers that can be used as make-shift weapons.