Team Spotlight: Meet Ben Gladwin.

May 18, 2020

Our police officer tells the second story.

Meet Ben Gladwin.

As Captain at the University of Montana police force, one of my favorite responsibilities was leading a program called Immediate Response to an Armed Intruder. We taught university staff and faculty and local public school teachers and healthcare workers how to survive the response gap between a violent incident starting and the arrival of help from someone like me.  Our model was Escape, Deny, Defend (run, hide, fight).  Now these people did not sign up for workplace violence, and I could tell the “defend” part was intimidating and frightening for them to even think about.  As a police officer, I had gear, training, experience, and often back-up to deal with violence.  These people had none of that.  Truth be told, it never sat well with me that the best practice was to teach them to use improvised weapons (throw a chair or stapler) at an active shooter.

When I was introduced to Reflex Protect, I imagined pepper spray.  My experience was that pepper spray never worked as intended, typically had a delayed onset, and contaminated everyone and everything nearby.  I’ve been hit with pepper spray – as was every cadet at the police academy – and I fought through it while completing several tasks before the effects became debilitating.

What I liked immediately was how their spray head could easily be grabbed and targeted accurately when an adrenaline dump causes the loss of fine motor skills.  From teaching civilians, I knew this was an ongoing issue.  I also liked that the product came out in a tight stream that did not atomize, did not contain OC, and therefore could be used indoors (which I knew was a non-starter for pepper spray). 

Of course, the skeptical cop in me need to see the evidence. So I asked to experience Presidia® gel firsthand.  I absolutely expected to fight through it – as I could with pepper spray – but the pain was instant, severe, and debilitating.  I could not open my eyes.  It felt like white-hot needles going straight to the back of my eyeballs.  All my thoughts were on making it stop.  As thoroughly impressed as I was with effectiveness of Presidia gel, in that moment I was eternally grateful for the antidote, Reflex Remove. Within three minutes I could open my eyes and function.  Other than a mild burning sensation on my skin, I had completely recovered in 15.  If it had been pepper spray, everyone in the room would have been affected, the whole building would have been cleared and I would have been dealing with the effects for the rest of the day.

The whole experience, ironically, left me in awe.

This was a game changer for me both as an officer and as a trainer of teachers and nurses. I immediately wanted it in my daughter’s classroom, as did she.  I became an advisor for the company and realized I was following a passion – helping people plan, prepare, and train for surviving the unthinkable. I quickly committed to full time, knowing that I could save more lives here than sitting behind a desk the police department.

I love giving our customers peace of mind, empowerment, and confidence in knowing that Reflex Protect is next to them in their workplace. I’m personally confident that Reflex Protect is the missing piece to the last line of defense for the true first responders: the frontline people who are present when violence erupts.

Link to our free Reflex Protect® eBook providing you with important safety tips useful wherever you live, work, worship, or play.

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