We Have Fire Drills... Why Not Active Shooter Drills?
Terrorist attacks have increased dramatically across the United States and Europe and it is unlikely that the frequency and lethality of attacks will diminish in the near future. It is important to remember that if our society becomes overly terrorized, fearful or paranoid, we are giving the terrorists a moral victory. However, there is a difference between paranoia and intelligent, disciplined preparation. Special Tactics holds the opinion that overall, American citizens and communities are not doing enough to prepare for deadly terrorist attacks. We have fire drills, but why is there so little formal education and training for how to deal with an active shooter or deadly terrorist attack?
Potential terrorist targets such as schools, airports, offices and places of worship are often poorly prepared to deal with a deadly attack perpetrated by terrorists or violent criminals. To help counter this threat, Special Tactics is releasing its first “Mini Course,” a 20-slide presentation entitled Surviving a Deadly Attack in an Enclosed Environment. The presentation comes with a printable “Quick Reference Card” to help people review and internalize the essential points of the presentation.
The presentation provides lifesaving advice and information that could greatly reduce civilian casualties in a crisis. Probably the most important piece of advice is that your chances of survival are much greater if you attempt to run away from the attackers instead of curling up on the ground and trying to hide. Watch the video below to see how people freeze and try to take cover behind objects that offer little protection. Do not make this same mistake.
When you stop and hide, you make yourself easy prey for a deadly attacker. However, when you run away (use a zig-zag pattern if possible) you greatly improve your chance of survival. Anyone with shooting experience knows that it is much more difficult to hit a moving target and the farther away a target gets, the more difficult the shot. So, if faced with a deadly attack, your first option is to run away as fast and as far as possible. This is one example of the sort of advice provided in the mini-course.
The course presentation has no copy protection and Special Tactics encourages readers to pass it around to their communities, schools, offices and places of worship. Special Tactics encourages people and organizations to use the presentation for training purposes and to conduct “deadly attack drills” in addition to mandated fire drills. Conducting such drills and following the instructions in the mini-course, could help save many lives in a crisis. Click below to purchase this sharable mini-course. Be sure to choose either PowerPoint or PDF format.
