Primer: Active Shooter Workshop Participant
Related Reading: Active Shooter: How to Respond Educational Booklet
Review of active shooter resources and training
The scope of the Las Vegas shooting this week is disturbing and brings the worry of
copycats. It is a good time to review active shooter or mass violence incident plans
and hold training or drills to run through them. It’s also a good time to re-establish
inter- and cross-jurisdictional partnerships with other responding agencies. Good
interagency cooperation doesn’t happen accidentally.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a dedicated site with active shooter
response resources, documents and training available for first responders and the
public. The resources for the public are translated into eight languages. They also
have information specifically for those in the human resources and security fields.
The FBI has a similar site with resources and training, including the “Run. Hide.
Fight.” video training and an overview of the FBI’s roles in an active shooter incident.
In addition, they have a section of studies on past active shooter incidents and
guides to developing emergency operations plans for schools, institutions of higher
learning and houses of worship.Firefighters played a significant role in the response. Firefighters and EMTs should
have working knowledge of their role in violent incidents well before being in
the middle of one. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) published a report on
operational considerations for fire and EMS during such incidents and the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is currently working on a standard. FireRescue1
and EMS1 both have numerous articles on this topic.In July, Lexipol hosted three chief fire officers from Prince George’s County, Maryland,
West Webster, New York, and Dallas, Texas, to learn about their tragic active shooter
incidents first hand. The hour-long webinar includes information and downloads.
Finally, concertgoers were very instrumental in initial patient care, hemorrhage
control and moving victims to ambulances and other transport. These actions
can be highlighted as part of an effort to educate the public in your jurisdiction
on rendering aid to a bleeding victim, whether from violence or other means. See
BleedingControl.org for more information and resources.
(Source: DHS)TRACIE resources page for mass violence incidents
The Las Vegas shooting is in some ways a worst-case scenario many agencies have
feared for years. After action reviews will not be done for some time, but we know
hospitals were taxed beyond capacity in response to this mass casualty incident.
The Technical Resource, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE)
site put together a page of information and resources related to mass violence.
As mentioned above, it would be a good idea to review your jurisdiction’s mass
casualty incident plans, run some drills, and make changes as needed.
One featured topic collection is Patient Movement and Tracking. Patient tracking
and transportation is chaotic without proper coordination and communication,
and those looking to strengthen their plans should find this information helpful.
Other featured topic collections include Emergency Public Information; Explosives and Mass Shooting; Hospital Surge Capacity; Trauma Care and Triage; Fatality
Management; Family Reunification and Support; and Responder Safety and Health.
TRACIE is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. It has many
Topic Collections (PDF, 105 KB) currently available and many more planned.
(Source: TRACIE)
