Here’s the bottom line in 2020: Your company needs training for an active shooter situation.
It’s not a fun subject. It never will be. But we can’t afford to push it aside on account of our discomfort.
Active shooter incidents are a reality that must be faced, particularly in the workplace. It is our belief at Lockdown International that every company should consider training for an active shooter situation, because while we hope it never happens to you, we want you to be prepared to survive and protect if it did. Your safety is our only priority.
Here are three reasons why companies should train for an active shooter situation:
1. It’s In The Statistics
The number of active shooter incidents is climbing annually, and almost half of those incidents occur at or near a place of business. A number of studies conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that of all the active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2018, a place of business was the initial target over twice as often as a school. Bottom line? Workplace violence and active shooter incidents are growing in number each year.
This isn’t new information to most people; though to the majority of the population it exists merely in news headlines. However, to those involved, survival often depends on preparedness and awareness. Do your due diligence to protect those in your workplace by teaching them to respond well.
2. You Could Be On Your Own
An active shooter scenario typically lasts only a few minutes. While it is positive that they tend to end fairly quickly once they’ve started, the reality is that the incident is often carried out before law enforcement arrives at the scene.
This means that if you or your employees are faced with this kind of situation, you may be on your own until it’s over. That’s why it is so imperative that each person in the workplace is prepared to protect themselves and others if the unthinkable should happen. The best way to ensure that you and your employees are prepared? Active shooter training.
3. Preparedness Over Paranoia
This type of training in the workplace is hard. How do you create awareness of something so frightening without making people paranoid?
You give them back the control.
One of the scariest things about being faced with an active shooter scenario is feeling a lack of control over your own safety and the safety of others. Professional training prepares people to quickly regain as much control over the situation as possible while waiting for a ceasefire or the arrival of law enforcement.
Under the guidance of these professionals, employees can learn and memorize emergency procedures, barricading measures, and complete mock scenarios. They’ll know how to recognize the sound of gunfire, avoid an area, barricade a safe room, adopt a survival mindset, and, as a last resort, take action against the shooter. While no exercise will truly recreate a horrific real-life active shooter situation, practice solidifies emergency procedures and often lessens fear of the unknown.
Training will equip employees with the confidence that they are prepared to survive and protect in a violent situation. Preparation is a natural defense against paranoia.
One more…
There is no reason more important than SAFETY: yours and your employees’. Their training could be the difference between life and death in a public crisis away from the workplace. Active shooter training is a necessary component for a safe work environment and confident employees, both at work and elsewhere.
Lockdown International is a partner in proactive solutions to unexpected situations. Our team is dedicated and driven to bring a variety of training programs, security products like the Barricade Box, educational tools, and proactive measures to businesses, schools and other communities. Our Active Survival: ABC’S Active Threat Response Plan program is fully compliant with the gold standard training requirements set forth by NFPA 3000: Standard for Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response Program (ASHER).
To learn more about our trainings, please visit our Instructor Course.