Stop the Dying…
Improving Active Shooter Response: Lessons Learned from Combat Operations
By Kevin Starbuck
Homeland Security defines an active shooter as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases using firearms with no pattern or method to their selection of victims. With each passing day, the threat of an active shooter incident impacting another community continues to increase. Whether borne out of radical beliefs or mental illness, public concern over this emerging threat is driving public safety to seek out improved response.
After the tragedy at Columbine High School, local law enforcement in Texas developed a new response protocol known as the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training or ALERRT. The program has been introduced to over 80,000 law enforcement officers nationwide with the Federal Bureau of Investigation adopting ALERRT as its standard in 2013. The ALERRT program is designed to prepare law enforcement responders to isolate, distract, and neutralize an “active shooter”; in other words… stop the killing.
In 2004, ALERRT was adapted to address civilian concerns with how to appropriately respond to an active shooter incident. The Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events or CRASE course builds on the Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy to provide guidance on how to survive an active shooter incident.
The next phase of ALERRT training is being introduced that is focused on integrating fire and emergency medical services into the law enforcement response. Lessons learned out of combat operations in the Middle East are filtering into domestic response protocols that focus on the importance of providing rapid medical treatment to innocent victims. This new paradigm is designed to introduce improved methods of casualty management; in other words… stop the dying.
As these innovative approaches to improving response to active shooter incidents filter through the responder community, one of the challenges that remains is ensuring that the whole community is prepared for this type of incident. While many communities have mass casualty plans, are they robust enough to address the unique and devastating impacts of an active shooter incident?
Community emergency preparedness programs need to capitalize on the innovation borne out of the ALERRT program to create a more holistic approach to how communities respond. Developing comprehensive plans on how the whole community will work together to rapidly respond and recover from this type of incident is necessary to address this ever evolving threat environment.
What is your community doing to prepare of an active shooter incident? Join us in the conversation at HomelandXYZ…
For more information on the ALERRT program visit alerrt.org.
See other articles by Homeland XYZ:
- The U.S. Drone Court: Are U.S. Citizens Constitutionally Protected From Targeted Drone Attacks?
- Body Cameras — Officer, Watch Your P’s and Q’s
- How to Defeat ISIS: Death by Chocolate
- Is It Time to Change Sentencing Rules?
- The Autonomous Motor Vehicle — Friend or Foe?
- Another Day in the Life of a North Korean Leader
- Is Transportation Passenger Safety a Homeland Security Issue?
- SCAPEGOAT
- North Korea in Space!?
Follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our blog!
