What do you do if you find yourself in an Active Shooter situation?

Oh boy! The news out of Las Vegas Nevada is horrible! Four (4) minutes and Thirty (30) seconds was all it took! The senseless loss of life is so difficult to comprehend. I dare not mention how many have lost their life because the number keeps rising! With 527 victims from the shooting the effects of this night will be long lasting.

PURE EVIL! Was my first thought on Sunday night when I heard about this horrible news.

So what do you? All the training I have conducted and the trainings I have attended talk about knowing your exit routes before you need them. Finding the alternative exit besides the primary exit, paying attention to sounds you hear and learning to react in a way than leads you away from the sounds not towards them. But this, defies conventional wisdom.

This incident did not allow for anything but Run well maybe a few were able to hide. But where, there was hardly any place!

This shooting appears to be premeditated with the shooter (I can’t mention his name because I don’t want to immortalize him but news is reporting him as a retired CPA and a high-stakes gambler in Las Vegas) checking in to the Mandalay Hotel, last Thursday and most likely Law enforcement will discover, he walked the grounds many times before he started shooting. To take a position on the 32nd floor and shoot out 2 windows then unload his rifles before police figured out where he was is EVIL.

DHS and the FBI define an “active shooter” is an individual who is engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

Victims are selected at random

Event is unpredictable and evolves quickly

Knowing what to do can save lives

When an Active Shooter is in your vicinity, you must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with the situation.

So what am I to do if I find myself in something like this?

Conventional wisdom says Run, Hide, and Fight!

RUN

Have an escape route and plan in mind

Leave your belongings behind

Evacuate regardless of whether others agree to follow Help others escape, if possible

Do not attempt to move the wounded

Prevent others from entering an area where the active shooter may be

Keep your hands visible

Call 911 when you are safe

HIDE

Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view

Lock door or block entry to your hiding place

Silence your cell phone (including vibrate mode) and remain quiet

FIGHT

Fight as a last resort and only when your life is in imminent danger

Attempt to incapacitate the shooter

Act with as much physical aggression as possible

Improvise weapons or throw items at the active shooter

Commit to your actions . . . your life depends on it

Social Media is ablaze with video of what happened while it was happening, interviews of personal accounts of heroism and what people did to save themselves and others that the dragged with them to some place safe.

More news will be forth coming about this and society will need to decide how to move forward on the issue of guns or mental illness. What will become of this issue we will need to wait and see.

In the mean time when you’re out and about be aware of where you are and how to get away.

To be safe your best bet is to consult with an expert that will help you. For business's consideration should be given to Active Shooter trainings and preparedness not just because of this news rather because it's an Employer's responsibility to create a safe working environment for their employee's.

CPR/AED/First Aid should be scheduled and completed. First Aid supplies able to treat gunshot wounds should be available in the workplace and there are those who will have these supplies available at home or with them in their car.

C & A Safety Consultants has over 30 years experience in working with business, government agencies, schools, churches, youth groups, camps (day and sleep away) and individuals.

C & A Safety Consultants are located in Southern California.

C & A Safety can be reached at:

CNASAFETY1@gmail.com or by telephone: 805-750-0915