Transcription
Again, we'd like to welcome you to the fire life safety master class. At this time, we're going to be discussing training in an active shooter situation.
In a nutshell, responding to an active shooter amounts to: AVOID, BARRICADE, CONFRONT. The first option or response would be to avoid. To try to evacuate the premise; you need to get out of there. You also need to have an escape plan. You must visualize your route of escape and avoid the elevators, escalators, things like that. You must be determined to evacuate, whether others want to or not. Make sure you carry nothing in your hands. Help others escape if possible. Prevent occupants from going toward the shooter. Call 9-1-1 when it's safe to do so. You want to give them pertinent information about the shooter; things such as the height, the weight, the race, clothing. You want to tell the 911 responder whether they have a rifle or whether they have a pistol. This is important.
If you're upstairs and caught up in a situation in a room or something, you need to barricade that room. You need to go somewhere where the shooter is unlikely to look or to find you or to see you. The ideal situation is behind something that is what they call ballistically proof—ballistic proof—that is something that, uh, a bullet can't go through; perhaps a, uh, a soda machine, a really large desk, something of that nature.
Once you barricade yourself, but you find yourself confronting the active shooter, then confront. Ideally, you want to collaborate as a group. You want to act aggressively. You need to be in a controlled, chaotic situation where you're throwing things at the active shooter, yelling, screaming, confident, though commit to your actions. Do not use the manual pull station, though, to get the attention of the authorities, and do not use the central station trip button.
Upon the arrival of first responders, you want to show your empty hands at all times. You do not want to approach them in a hurried, agitated manner. You want to resist quick and sudden movements. Carry nothing in your hands that could be misinterpreted as a weapon or a device. Avoid yelling. Avoid screaming. Practice these measures and hope for the best in this active shooter situation.