ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING
Preparing Civilians to Respond to Violent Intruder Attacks
The Law Enforcement Foundation is pleased to present Active Shooter Training, which will enable organizations to provide training that will empower individuals and increase their chances of survival. In the same way you post evacuation routes, stock first aid cabinets, make Automatic External Defibrillators available, and train for a variety of emergency situations, we invite you to consider that this training be a part of your standard emergency training program.
Active Shooter Training incorporates physical practice drills and mental preparedness tactics to understand the mindset of disgruntled individuals. Program participants learn the following:
-Historical perspective on active shooter/violent intruder cases
-How to recognize potential threats
-Common sense strategies to increase survivability
-How to successfully implement strategies
Why Is Citizen Preparation Necessary?
When faced with an active shooter or violent intruder of any kind, training prepares people to respond appropriately.
This training uses strategies that incorporate environmental design, technology, communication, law enforcement response, and the commonly missing link—ACTION—by those in immediate danger. Anyone is vulnerable to an act of violence.
What is covered in the training?
Training focuses on simple, clear communication. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recommends plain and specific language. The training discusses methods for clearly conveying warnings and the ways various communication technologies can facilitate those messages.
Lockdown: can be a valid response but should be used as a semi-secure starting point from which to make survival decisions. The training explains scenarios where lockdown is the preferable option and dispels myths about traditional lockdown procedures. Relying on lockdown alone will significantly endanger occupants in a violent intruder situation. Trainers instruct on practical techniques for how to better barricade a room, what to do with mobile and electronic devices, how and when to communicate with police, and how to use your time in lockdown to prepare to use other strategies (i.e. Counter or Evacuate) that might come into play should the active shooter gain entrance.
Inform: uses any means necessary to pass on real-time information. Video surveillance, 911 calls and PA announcements are just a few of the channels that may be used. Information should always be clear and direct and, as much as possible, should focus on communicating the whereabouts of the intruder. If the shooter is known to be in an isolated section of a building, occupants in other areas can safely evacuate while those in direct danger can lockdown and prepare to counter. Knowledge is the key to survival.
Counter: is the application of skills to distract, confuse and gain control through the use of simple proactive techniques. Counter focuses on actions that create noise, movement, distance and distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately. The training does not endorse civilians fighting an active shooter unless confronted directly in a life-and-death situation. Counter is a last-ditch and worst-case scenario option.
Evacuate: is always the preferable response. Our human instinct in the face of danger is to remove ourselves from that threat. The training provides techniques for safer and more strategic evacuations. Many useful techniques exist and can save your life. Trainers teach strategies for evacuating through windows, from higher floors and under extreme duress. Trainers also give instructions on what to do at rally points, including communicating with law enforcement and administering first aid. Evacuation is the number one goal.
To learn more about this training please contact:
CEO Donna Harrass
donna.harrass@oacp.org or 614-761-9479