Command-Commandment #2&3
(Know The Battlefield/ Weapons & Tactics of War)
Incident Command Priorities for Police and Fire (Part 2 and 3 of 10)
This 10 part series takes inspiration from Sacramento Metro Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Kastros’ teaching of his “10 Commandments of Command” and applies those principles to complex emergency situations beyond that of a structure fire. Each of Kastros’ commandments are adapted to present an emergency where both police and fire must engage in activity at the same time, in the same place.
As a little girl, she idolized her first grade teacher: her smile, infectious passion, and shrewd wit. Before leaving for Christmas break, Mrs. King made her class an offer — anyone willing to read The Little House on the Prairie and write a page talking about their thoughts of the book would be given extra credit when they get back next year. Sarah couldn’t get home fast enough. By Monday night, she had finished the book. Her voracious appetite growing, Sarah shrieked when Santa completed the nine book set on Christmas morning. She proceeded directly to her room and never looked back.
Today, her childhood dream is realized as she unlocks the door to her first grade classroom. Sarah sits down at her teachers desk. With plenty of time before the bell rings in her first students, Sarah steals the moment, closes her eyes, smiles, and glows inwardly.
The nostalgia was beginning to ebb as her 26 shiny faces filed in from the playground. Sarah decided she was going to have to institute inside voice rules before this little recess ritual got out of hand. Just as She was gaining the upper hand, Sarah’s hair stood on end with the sound of a quick *pop-pop-pop** from down the hall. On high alert now, Sarah commands quiet and proceeds to the hallway entry. Slowly peering around the corner, Sarah jumps with fright as gunshots slice the air—followed quickly by horrified screams. In the distance, a silhouette of a man with a gun proceeds toward the office.
Terror welling inside, Sarah closes the door quietly, locks it, and turns around to see 26 children, eyes wide, silently seeking direction from their teacher. A calm wave washing over her, Sarah confidently directs her class. “Listen up. Each of you grab one hand. Good. Now i want the two of you to pick up a desk and bring it over here to me at the door. It is time to build a HUGE desk fort in front of the door here. Let’s go. Start building as fast as you can!” As the Desks make their way to the entry, Sarah begins piling them as high and as deep as possible. She takes all of the chairs and books she can and adds weight to the fort. She then directs all of her kids to the two bathrooms, elicits quiet and begins to dial 911 on her cell phone.
Having just driven passed the school, Officer Mike Morris makes a u-turn and guns his new Chevy patrol car to the main entry as his dispatch is relaying the news of the shooting inside Little Raven Elementary. Having been a School Resource Officer at this very building last year, Morris knows this building well. Without hesitation, Morris sprints for the entry and disappears in search of the sound of gunfire.
Know the Battlefield — Know the Weapons and Tactics of War
School shootings strike at the heart of society. A cohesive, and deliberate response to a complex emergency like this couldn’t be more important. Police, fire, and EMS agencies throughout the country are working diligently to prepare for the next active shooter. As this effort continues, focus on knowing the battlefield and understanding the weapons and tactics of this war will serve to vastly improve upon the response. As Sergeant Miles drives up to the school, he is fully aware of this focus.
Unified Activity: Miles establishes a command post in the front parking lot of the school. Garret Baker, the first arriving fire Lieutenant contacts Miles on his radio channel to coordinate the establishment of a unified command. Miles and Baker pull the map of the school up on their computer and begin organizing the response based on feedback from officers inside the school. The shooter is reported in the Northwest wing so both Miles and Baker work to establish exit routes, responder staging locations, ambulance staging locations, triage and treatment locations both inside and outside of the school. They map out the battlefield to insure the most organized and successful deployment of the weapons and tactics that are, and will continue to be implemented.
Police Activity: Officer Morris was quickly joined by four other officers as they pursued the shooter to the Northwest corner of the school. Their first tactic — engage the shooter, stop the violence — is well under way. As additional officers engage, they coordinate with Morris to begin development of warm zones. With the group at the front confining the shooter in place, creating a beachhead of firepower in front of them, the other officers have the discipline to hold position, making a keyhole in other hallways. Other officers search rooms in the warm zone, looking for injured.
Fire Activity: As additional fire and EMS units arrive, they organize: medical branch, extraction branch. Extraction firefighters line up in the cafeteria and prepare to enter with police guards to extract the injured. They enter with police front and rear guards with weapons like tourniquets and patient moving equipment. They quickly gather the most injured and extract them to the gym where the casualty collection point has been set up. The victims are taken, triaged and treated in the gym before being transported to the hospital.
Result: Shooter in custody. Police and fire extraction teams methodically search the rest of the school, evacuating students and teachers as they move. Officer Morris approaches Mrs. Sarah Johnston’s first grade door, knocks, and announces that it is safe to come out.
Today’s public safety agencies face a wide array of new threats. Preparing for those threats requires a change in approach from the everyday emergency. Police and fire must meet up immediately and begin to fortify and organize their battlefield. That battlefield is often small. Ambulance, fire and police resources will be descending on this battlefield: each forced to actively engage in their responsibilities immediately. Organizing those resources for battle is one of the most important responsibilities of that initial unified command team. Once organized, those resources can then implement the weapons and tactics at their disposal to insure the priorities of Life Safety, Incident Stabilization, Property Conservation, and Crime Scene Management are achieved.
About Me
I am a Firefighter, Paramedic, Lieutentant, and OEM Coordinator with the City of Aurora, CO. I see the passion of all emergency responders in this industry and seek to cultivate it to take our response to the next level. Join me in this team effort.
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