I recently attended Active Shooter Training by the local police department. It was both disturbing and informative.

As a writer, it also gave a lot of detail and things to consider when creating scenarios in the future.

The officer showed many real-life examples (Great White concert fire, Orlando night club shooting) where people died within feet of exits, simply because they didn’t know they were there or didn’t plan ahead of time of what they would do in a crisis.

Very sad.

Here’s some info I jotted down during the training. This applies to active shooters, but the awareness piece also applies to other attack situations (knife, car, truck, etc.).

Surprising numbers:

• The average response time for the police is only 3 minutes.
• 69% of all active shooter events happen in 5 minutes or less.
• Do whatever you have to do to survive those few short minutes.

Preparation can save your life:

• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Know yourself – physical strength, limitations, etc. and plan accordingly.
• Know where all the exits are located. If possible, be near one during your time there.
  • Don’t assume things are the same since the last time you were there. Some exits may be temporary unavailable due to construction, etc.
• Have a plan. Your brain won’t come up with one in a panic.
• Do this every time you go anywhere, training yourself to do it without thinking. That’s what cops and military do.

Situational awareness

• Focus on what poses the most threat. You can’t look at everything. If your try, you’ll notice nothing.
  
• How big is the threat?  
  
• Threats aren’t static. People get closer, farther away, can attack with knife, then gun. Pay attention, act accordingly.
  
• Trust your gut.
• Your head is going to assume the best (that wasn’t gunfire, it was a firecracker). But you need to prepare for the worst.
• Error on the side of safety.

Overcome Obstacles

• Denial – This is a normal reaction. This leads to inaction, which leads to freezing or escaping too late.
• Social proof – this is when you looking for other’s reaction. When the planes hit the World Trade Center, those who left immediately survived. Those who saw others wait often waited with them and died.
• Truth by committee – people discuss trying to figure out what is happening, trying to get others to agree with you. By the time you come to agreement, it may be too late.

Physical reactions:

• Adrenaline – in crisis situations, your heartbeat will rise. 
  • When your heart beats per rises above 120 a minute, your fine motor skills begin to diminish (like in the movies where someone struggles to put keys in the lock).
    
  • When it hits 170 you will incur auditory distress, which means you go instantly deaf. You will also get tunnel vision. You can’t see or hear. Your body is limiting as much stimuli as possible.
• To overcome this, calm yourself with tactical breathing – inhale 4 counts, hold 4, breathe out 4. Do this 4 times, then start listening to what is going on around you.

Things to do during the crisis:

• There are three reactions… flight – fright – freeze.
• Keep moving. If you move, you force your brain to think. If you stay still, you mentally freeze, becoming an easy target.
• Waiting is NOT an option and hiding in NOT a permanent solution, it is a temporary state while you decide whether to run or attack.
• Consider secondary exits such as windows.
  • IMPORTANT – If you throw a chair at a window and it doesn’t shatter, don’t waste time trying again. It is probably a protective window, like hurricane windows in Florida, designed not to break.

In the moment:

• Visualize your movements in advance.
  
• Move away from the sound of gunfire.
• Avoid the killer.
• This is about survival, not protection.
• Get out=escape=leave=move.
  

If forced to fight:

• Find a room that has a lock and barricade the crap out of it.
  
• Arm yourself with whatever you can find.
  
• If with others, quietly develop a plan.
  
• Once you have a plan, separate to make it harder for the assailant to kill everyone in the room.
  
• Turn the lights out.
  
• Turn cell phone OFF
  
• 100% focus is on the door.

Attacking the assailant:

• Police call a door the fatal funnel. Limited motion, one way in or out.
• Most active shooters are not good shots.
• If the attacker enters
  
  • Hit them as hard as you can.
    
  • Yelling can disorient them
    
  • Grab for the gun.
    • NOTE – If the shooter has shot, the barrel will be hot.
      
  • Pile on
    
  • Kick, punch, bite, especially the hand holding the gun. A lot of nerves in the hand.

Mentality matters

• Survival is all about mindset.
  • If you think you’re going to die, you probably will, because your brain has stopping thinking of options.
• Choose to survive.
• Believe you are going to win, not die.
• Being shot does not equal dead. Keep going.

While escaping:

• Do not try to move wounded who are on the ground.
  
• Unless they are actively trying to get out, leave them. Help is less than 3 minutes away.
• Don’t pull fire alarms.
  • In a crisis, people’s brains will react to how they were trained.
  • People trained to respond to fire drills (ex. kids in school) will respond for the wrong event, as if it is a fire, not a shooter.

Running from a building:

• Leave your stuff behind.
  
• Your hands should be free of everything.
  • Cell phone in your pocket. Cops could mistaken it for a weapon.
• Hands should be up, fingers spread.
• Run in a straight line, if possible, and with conscious effort.
  
• If cops are running in your direction, stop and raise your hands.
  • They don’t know if one of you is going to attack them.
  • Remember, their heartbeats are over 120 too.
• Call 911 as soon as you are safe.
  • Keep calling until you get through.
  • Your information may give the authorities better intel about what they are facing.
    

Other interesting info:

• The local police use a “single man response,” which means they don’t wait for backup.
• Sadly, statistics show 60% of those officers will get shot.
• YOUR SURVIVAL BEGINS WITH YOUR MINDSET. KNOW YOU WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET HOME SAFE.

So, that’s what I learned. A lot of great stuff. Don’t be surprised if you see this seeded in my future novels.

Be safe out there.