Active Shooter Drills

Creating a Resilient Physical Security Plan for Active Shooter Situations In today’s risk landscape, the most effective physical security plan for an active shooter scenario must take a layered and proactive approach, prioritizing the immediate safety of individuals while integrating robust preparedness measures. A successful response hinges not only on having the right infrastructure but also on ensuring people are trained and ready to act. At the core of this approach is the widely recognized “Run, Hide, Fight” protocol, supported by active planning, training, and communication systems that allow personnel to respond quickly and decisively. Immediate Response: Run, Hide, Fight 1. Run If a safe path is accessible, evacuate the area immediately. Escaping the threat is always the first and best option when conditions allow. 2. Hide If evacuation isn’t feasible, quickly move to a secure hiding place. Lock or barricade doors, turn off lights and devices that make noise, and stay out of sight while remaining silent. 3. Fight As a last resort, and only when life is in immediate danger, attempt to incapacitate the shooter. Use available objects as improvised weapons and act with determination and aggression. Proactive Measures for Prevention and Preparedness • Active Shooter Training Conduct regular, scenario-based training for all employees. Familiarity with the “Run, Hide, Fight” strategy and other emergency protocols significantly improves individual and group response under stress. • Effective Communication Systems Implement a reliable, multi-channel alert system to notify employees in real time. This could include PA systems, text alerts, instant messaging platforms, or internal emergency broadcast tools. • Strengthened Physical Security • Access Control: Install controlled entry points, badge systems, and visitor verification processes. • Surveillance: Use CCTV and monitoring tools to maintain visibility across the premises. • Perimeter Security: Secure all external access with physical barriers, locked gates, and trained security staff. • Interior Visibility: Design layouts that promote open sightlines and reduce blind spots to deter potential threats. • Collaboration with Law Enforcement Establish strong communication channels and protocols with local police and emergency responders. Coordinate joint drills when possible to align responses. • Continuous Review and Improvement Regularly evaluate the active shooter response plan. Incorporate lessons from drills, feedback, and emerging best practices to ensure the plan evolves with changing threats. Conclusion An active shooter event unfolds quickly, and the margin for error is slim. By combining a strong physical security foundation with well-trained personnel and clear communication protocols, organizations can significantly improve their ability to protect lives and minimize harm. Preparedness is not optional, it’s a responsibility.

Active Shooter Response: The Critical Role of Security Personnel in Protecting Lives. Active shooter incidents remain among the most challenging emergencies faced by security professionals worldwide. These situations develop rapidly, often within minutes, leaving little time for decision-making. The actions taken by security personnel during the first moments of an incident can significantly influence the outcome and potentially save lives. The primary responsibility of security personnel during an active shooter event is not to pursue the attacker, but to protect people, communicate effectively, and support responding law enforcement agencies. Early recognition of warning signs, immediate activation of emergency procedures, and timely notification to emergency services are essential components of an effective response. International best practices promoted by organizations such as ASIS International, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), FEMA, and NFPA emphasize several key principles: • Life safety is always the first priority. • Early reporting and communication save lives. • Accurate information supports effective decision-making. • Controlled evacuation and shelter-in-place procedures reduce casualties. • Cooperation with law enforcement is essential. • Continuous training and realistic drills improve preparedness. Security officers must remain calm, professional, and focused under pressure. They should understand emergency plans, evacuation routes, communication procedures, and casualty management principles before an incident occurs. Preparation is not a reaction; it is a continuous process of training, assessment, and improvement. An active shooter event is a reminder that security is far more than access control and surveillance. It is about leadership during crisis, protecting vulnerable individuals, and helping organizations recover from extraordinary situations. Preparedness, vigilance, and professionalism remain the strongest tools available to security professionals. Through training, coordination, and adherence to international standards, security personnel can make a critical difference when every second matters. Be Prepared. Be Alert. Be the difference. #SecurityManagement #SecurityProfessionals #ActiveShooterResponse #EmergencyManagement #CrisisManagement #RiskManagement #SecurityTraining #BusinessContinuity #ProtectiveSecurity #LifeSafety #EmergencyPreparedness #PhysicalSecurity #SecurityLeadership

Are you planning a hyper-realistic active shooter drill? Please don't. I recently heard about a company planning an active shooter drill that made my jaw drop. Their plan? Stage a hyper-realistic scenario with fake guns, fake blood, actors playing attackers, and here’s the kicker: don’t tell employees it’s a drill until after it happens. The thinking apparently is that this will give employees the “most realistic” experience possible. If they go forward with it, let’s also hope they have their attorneys on standby because this is just a crazy reckless idea. If someone at your company even proposes anything remotely similar, this post might save you from a legal nightmare. Here are just a few of the disasters you're creating. When you deliberately create a scenario where employees believe they’re in mortal danger, you’re creating a workplace injury. Psychological trauma can be a recognized workers’ compensation claim. Employees who experience panic attacks, anxiety, PTSD, or other psychological injuries from believing they were about to die will file workers’ comp claims. In droves. Beyond workers’ comp, some intentional acts are so egregious that employees may try to raise lawsuits in addition to claims. For example, it wouldn’t be unheard of for an employee to sue for negligent infliction of emotional distress by claiming the company owed a duty of care to its employees and breached it by creating an unnecessarily traumatic situation. Even worse, intentional infliction of emotional distress requires conduct that is “extreme and outrageous” and goes “beyond all possible bounds of decency.” Deliberately making employees believe they’re about to be murdered would certainly create a colorable claim. And then there’s this scenario which should terrify every risk manager: What happens when an employee, believing they’re facing an actual active shooter, takes physical defensive action? The “run, hide, fight” protocol specifically contemplates fighting back as a last resort. So if the company trained employees that if confronted with a shooter, they might need to attack. Active shooter preparedness training should include advance notice, classroom-based education on “run, hide, fight” protocols, tabletop exercises that walk through scenarios verbally, and if you do a physical drill, make it absolutely clear it’s a drill beforehand. Use obviously fake props if any props at all. Make repeated announcements that “this is a drill.” Work with local law enforcement or professional security consultants who know how to conduct this training safely and appropriately. Your goal should be prepared employees, not traumatized ones. You can achieve the first without creating the second.

Would your training hold up in a life-or-death situation? Walmart associates didn’t rely on manuals or checklists during an active shooter event. They relied on VR training—and it worked. It’s one thing to check the compliance box on workplace safety training. It’s another to build training that actually works in the moments that matter most. My latest guest on They Learn, You Win is Andy Trainor, former Chief Learning Officer at Walmart and now CEO of SkillsVR North America. He shared a harrowing yet game-changing story about how VR-based active shooter training saved lives in a real-world crisis. At Walmart, their compliance training for active shooter scenarios was technically correct, but Andy and his team knew it wasn’t effective. Employees were learning the steps, but would they act when it mattered? So they built a an immersive, real-time decision-making VR simulation, filming a 360-degree active shooter scenario in a store. Then, tragedy struck in El Paso, TX when a real active shooter visited a Walmart store. 23 people lost their lives in a devastating, heartbreaking event, BUT over 2,000 people made it out safely. When investigators asked how so many people evacuated so quickly, Walmart associates all said the same thing: “Because of the VR training. I didn’t have to think—I just acted.” This is what learning should be. Not just absorbing information, but transforming behavior when it counts. 👉 Employees didn’t just watch a safety module. 👉 Their brains experienced it as reality. 👉 Their instincts kicked in when it happened for real. VR training isn’t about gimmicks or futuristic tech for tech’s sake. It’s about solving real problems in ways that e-learning, PDFs, and PowerPoints never could. When training is Dangerous, Impossible, Counterproductive, or Expensive (DICE acronym) to simulate—VR is the answer. When training needs to create real instinctive action—VR is the answer. And with AI-driven scenarios now adapting to a learner’s real-time decisions, this is just the beginning. Curious about how Walmart scaled VR training to 1.5 million employees? Or how AI is making VR training more personalized than ever? Check out my full conversation with Andy Trainor on They Learn, You Win 👇

The National Academies released a consensus report on school #activeshooter drills and how to mitigate risks to mental, emotional, and behavioral health. I was honored to be invited to testify to the committee as one of the panelists. High-level highlights of what it says: 🔍 The research is mixed and limited: drills can boost preparedness, but they also raise fear/anxiety for some students—especially those with prior trauma or disabilities. 🧠 Do this: trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate, well-announced drills; plan with a multidisciplinary team; debrief; check on vulnerable students; integrate with a positive school climate. 🔺 Don’t do this: no hyper-realistic simulations, no high-sensory elements, no deception. 👉 Policy/practice: publish national guidelines; fund better research; ensure school health staff monitor students; require specialized training for officers in schools (#SROs). 🔍 Bottom line for #schoolleaders: prepare people without harming them—and put climate, clarity, and care at the center of #schoolsafety and #schoolsecurity. Get the full report: https://zurl.co/S8mfO

Sat in on an excellent presentation by Joe Hammond of the Monroe County (MI) Sheriff's Office as he walked through how he conducted a full-scale active shooter exercise in his district. I was thankful to see a Rescue Task Force (RTF) incorporated in the drill. In the aftermath of active shooter incidents, we often see metrics around how long it took for someone to call 911, how long it took to call a lockdown, how long it took for the entry team to get to work, and then threat mitigation. We often don't hear about the time between people being injured and receiving treatment. The reality is that gunshot victims can bleed to death in five minutes. Getting the RTF into the warm zone can improve the outcome. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 A Rescue Task Force (RTF) is a team composed of EMS (emergency medical services) and law enforcement personnel that enters the "warm zone"-areas cleared but not fully secured- to provide rapid, life-saving medical care to victims during an active shooter incident. Their main tasks include controlling severe bleeding, managing airway compromise, and stabilizing victims for quick evacuation to definitive care. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 RTFs operate under the protection of armed law enforcement, who provide security while EMS personnel deliver medical interventions. This collaboration allows medical teams to reach victims sooner, reducing delays if EMS waits for the entire scene to be declared safe. 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲 The RTF moves victims who cannot self-evacuate to casualty collection points for further treatment and transport. They treat victims as encountered, prioritizing immediate life-saving interventions rather than full triage. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 The RTF model minimizes care delays, increases survival rates, and streamlines communication and coordination among first responders. In summary, the Rescue Task Force plays a critical role by delivering urgent medical care in areas not yet fully secure, under law enforcement protection, to save lives during active shooter incidents.