Active Shooter Training

MEDIC Instructor Matt Rosefsky attended an excellent training session on how to be prepared for, and what to do in case of an active shooter event -- brought to the community by the Community Emergency Response Team of Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle, in early 2016.

The presentation included playing the video on this FBI web page. (If the link no longer works, search on FBI's web page "run hide fight" or "Responding to an Active Shooter Crisis Situation")

Some key, relevant take-aways from the lecture portion of the training (in addition to and/or emphasizing what's in the video) were [written for people who run an office] :

Plan A: RUN:

• Have everyone pre-think about the places they commonly spend time (e.g. front desk, break room, etc.) and plan out now two escape routes from each of those areas to get outside and far away from the building.
• Plan that as folks run away from the building, run much further away than your fire evacuation outside gathering point.

Plan B: HIDE:

• Have everyone pre-think about places they would hide if they cannot run; choose hiding spots which are behind something that's relatively bulletproof, and which has an escape route -- don't trap oneself in a little hiding spot (such as a closet) that has no back way out.
• If hiding in a room, lock the door (shooters usually won't waste time trying to knock down a door) and blockade it from the inside.
• Silence cellphones -- don't use vibrate mode either.

Plan C: FIGHT:

• Improvise heavy and/or sharp items to fight with, and *commit* to fighting hard.

Do NOT just lay down and play dead. Active shooters have in real life walked by people like that on the floor and shot them anyways, to make sure they were dead.

Consider having a rehearsal, like a fire drill.

PREVENT: 93% of attackers caused people who knew them, to be concerned about them, before the day of shooting. Make it clear to all employees that they are to tell you or their supervisors if they are worried about someone, and they will not be judged if it seems to be profiling (e.g. they won't get in trouble / they'll be protected if they "see something, say something" on someone of ethnicity or religion who our media has stereotyped to be a terrorist).