Training
School Courses
This course, which can be either 4 or 8 hours long, aims to bring together police officers and school staff, including teachers and administrators, to help them work together during an active shooter situation. The course draws on our experience of teaching more than 75,000 school staff across the United States since 2007. The course teaches school staff how to:
- Prevent such incidents.
- Quickly report them.
- Protect themselves and their students while they wait for the police to arrive.
Understand what the police will do when they get there.
It also helps police officers develop the skills and mindset needed to handle these challenging situations effectively.
4 HR. ACTIVE SHOOTER & INTRUDER RESPONSE FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL
(LOCKDOWN & LOCKDOWN FAILURE RESPONSE)
We also explore the history of school shootings, examining past events like Enoch Brown, Columbine, VA Tech, and Sandy Hook from different perspectives (attacker, law enforcement, and school staff). We discuss the lessons learned from these tragedies.
The course delves into lockdown procedures, both for situations where the threat is outside the school and when it's already inside. We also cover what to do when a lockdown fails, emphasizing the importance of having a plan for such scenarios. We provide audio and video resources to illustrate these protocols for different parts of the school and various types of doors, with a focus on securing areas that lack locks through layering and reinforcement strategies. Additionally, we discuss strategies for controlling visitor access and improving entrance area security.
8 HR. ACTIVE SHOOTER & INTRUDER RESPONSE FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL
The 8-hour course also includes information about preventing school shootings. In this part, we take a close look at a study from the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Education called the "2002 Safe Schools Initiative Study" as well as the "2002 Safe Schools Initiative – BYSTANDERS Study." These studies offer valuable insights into preventing school shootings, covering reporting, investigations, considerations for the police, warning signs, assessing threats, recognizing risk indicators, and communicating within the school, with parents, and the community.
Both versions of the course have two parts. The first part is classroom-based and covers topics like the history of school shootings, lessons learned, warning signs, threat assessments, school lockdowns, what to do when a lockdown fails, and how law enforcement responds quickly. The second part is a 4-hour practical training session for law enforcement, involving drills, scenarios, and exercises. School personnel participate to practice lockdown and lockdown failure strategies, understand safe areas in rooms, and learn what to do in case of a lockdown failure, including self-defense techniques.
Additionally, we offer an evening seminar called "Community’s Response to the threat of School Active Shooters" for parents and community members. These seminars discuss the history and demographics of school shootings, educate parents on talking to their kids about sharing information regarding potential threats, and emphasize that schools are generally safe places. These sessions are well-received and provide reassurance to the community.
What to do in an ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION!
This course provides options for our school faculty, staff, and teachers. It was developed to refresh returning faculty and staff in preparing them for a Critical Incident Response.
The course covers the following:
- Defines the term "Active Shooter."
- Lists characteristics to look for in students that are found in typical school shooters.
- Outlines the steps that can be taken to identify, mitigate, and prevent an active shooter event.
- Introduces the three new response actions teachers and staff may utilize in a critical incident.
This class is an excellent way to refresh your school's preparedness and lay the groundwork to hold a live drill on your campus.
As schools and public buildings improve their security and lockdown protocols, attackers are now focusing on targeting school students, mass transit customers, and buses. School and mass transit bus drivers, who can play a crucial role in responding effectively, are already aware of their significant responsibility and may feel anxious about this threat.
To ease their anxiety, we educate these drivers on three key topics: awareness, safety, and intruder response. When they are well-informed, they realize that a bus can be a secure environment due to its mobility and design. They learn to stay alert, use their surroundings to their advantage, and respond to threats that may arise outside or inside the bus.
We cover the following topics:
- Why are school and mass transit buses targeted?
- Being aware when approaching bus stops.
- Recognizing potential threat areas at bus stops.
- Understanding how buses are difficult to board when doors are closed.
- Leveraging the mobility of buses as a deterrent and response strategy.
- Intruder response: What to do if an intruder gets on the bus.
- Differences in responding to an active shooter, hostage situation, or robbery.
We're all too familiar with names like Columbine, Jonesboro, Virginia Tech, Paducah, and Newtown, CT—tragic incidents involving armed intruders and active shooters in schools. These events have been happening in the United States for a while. Initially, the responsibility to solve these issues fell on law enforcement organizations. Schools began creating lockdown policies and conducting drills, but often they didn't collaborate effectively.
Now, law enforcement and schools are working together, yet we still see these incidents occurring. So, what's missing?
A Safe Knight Inc. believes the solution to preventing and responding to these crises must involve the entire community where these schools are located. We all have a shared interest in making our community schools safer for our children. What's been missing is educating parents and defining their role in addressing these important issues.
This 2 to 2 ½ hour seminar is designed for assembly or community settings, with time allocated for Q&A from parents, teachers, and community members. We often schedule it in the evening to accommodate working parents.
This course aims to educate parents and the community about the following topics:
- Increasing awareness in your community.
- Assessing school safety.
- Understanding the threat of intruders in schools.
- Reviewing the Secret Service Bystander Study and lessons learned.
- Exploring ways to prevent incidents.
- Learning how to report potential threats.
- Tips for preventing bullying and how to respond if your child is being bullied.
- Clarifying your role if an incident occurs at your child’s school.
- Providing an overview of school safety and lockdown plans.
Why is the community approach so important? When you analyze these incidents, you realize that the community is directly impacted by them, responsible for responding to them, and recovering from them. Often, the suspect is a community member, the affected location is part of the community, and the victims are from the community. Local authorities, like the police, fire, and EMS, come from the community too. These events have a lasting impact and change the dynamics of a community forever.
We prepare not because these incidents happen frequently, but because of their significant impact on our community. While we can't prevent all school attacks, we can increase the chances of discovering potential threats before they occur and work together as a community to make our community safer.
School nurses, teachers, administration personnel, maintenance/facility staff. Course is valid for instructors.
Synopsis:
For several years we have addressed how to prevent and respond to a crisis or mass casualty incident in our schools, churches, or other public setting where many people assemble. This course will give you and your staff the skills and tactics you can use to save life and dramatically change the outcome for a critically injured person in less than 60 seconds. When the crisis event occurs medical first responders are trained NOT to be present in the danger area until the crisis scene is safe and secure. This could be up to an hour or more. When a medical emergency occurs, SUCCESS or FAILURE will be up to the person(s) on scene not professional first responders. In other words, YOU are the first responder! 911 personnel are the second responders!
NOTE:
This is not a basic first aid course! The concepts presented are based upon the most current and innovative techniques currently in use by the United States Military as dictated by the Tactical Combat Casualty Care model as well as civilian EMS trauma guidelines as used by our current emergency response systems. No previous medical training is necessary to participate.
Topics Include:
• What To Do When the Shooting Stops
• Airway Management
• Hemorrhage Control Devices
• Thoracic and Abdominal Trauma
• Basic Medical Equipment and Kits
• Self-Rescue and Partner Rescue
• How to Perform a Physical Exam
• Operating in Low Light
• Sensory Deprived Assessment
• Managing Sensory Overload
• Performing a Hasty Rescue
• Evacuation Platforms for Rescue
Regarding our Training Philosophy and Practices:
Our training staff is composed of professional and experienced coaches and we are students ourselves.
We believe in treating everyone respectfully and as adult learners. Our coaches participate in the learning process and we use a building block approach to solidify skills before moving toward more advanced concepts.
We do not believe in “check the box” training nor do we believe in “lowest common denominator” training. Individual assistance is always available.
Those who are not safe and conscientious with their equipment, those who are not willing to be open-minded, receive new information and try new concepts, and those who are not capable of keeping their ego in check should not enroll in our training.
Logistics and Equipment Required:
• Comfortable clothing suitable for physical activity, movement and simulated rescues
• Knee pads and work gloves
• Hand towel
• High intensity flashlight that will fit in pocket (if available)
This 4-hour course is for daycare and childcare professionals to learn how to respond effectively in an active shooter situation. We've taught this course to over 20,000 people across the U.S. since 2008. It helps school staff learn how to quickly and effectively respond, report, and protect themselves and students during an active shooter incident while waiting for the police to arrive.
We also explore the history of school shootings like Enoch Brown, Columbine, VA Tech, and Sandy Hook, examining them from various perspectives, including the attackers, law enforcement, and schools. We discuss lessons learned from these events and delve into the psychology of active shooters.
The course covers lockdown protocols for schools and daycare facilities, both for threats outside and inside. We also focus on what to do when a lockdown fails, as many incidents happen because of lockdown failures. We provide audio and video tools to illustrate these protocols for different parts of the school and various types of doors. We also discuss visitor access control and entrance security strategies.
Topics covered include identifying safe areas in classrooms and daycare facilities, practicing lockdown concepts, learning gross motor skills for lockdown techniques (with and without door locks), understanding what to do if a lockdown fails, finding secondary exit points, knowing when and why to evacuate, and even how to defend yourself in case of a lockdown failure using improvised weapons.
The course concludes with a hands-on exercise, giving participants the chance to practice different levels of lockdowns, lockdown failures, and evacuation principles covered in the class.
Church Courses
This 4 hour OR 8 hr. course is designed to bridge the gap between responding officers and church administrators and other church personnel in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist congregation in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their congregation from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
4hr Active Shooter & Intruder Response Training for Church Personnel
(Lockdown & Lockdown Failure Response)
This 4-hour course is meant to educate church personnel, including pastors, congregation members, receptionists, and support staff, on how to respond effectively in an active shooter situation. We've been teaching this course to school personnel across the United States since 2013, and it's now tailored for churches.
The course aims to help church personnel learn how to:
- Prevent
- Report
- Protect themselves and their congregation during an active shooter incident while waiting for the police to arrive.
Additionally, it provides law enforcement officers with the skills and mindset needed to respond to these challenging situations.
We'll explore the history and evolution of church-related active shooter events from the perspectives of the attacker, law enforcement, and the church itself. We'll also discuss lessons learned from these events.
In terms of response, the course includes a detailed analysis of recommended lockdown protocols for churches, both for threats outside and threats inside. We'll also delve into lockdown failure scenarios. While many churches have plans for lockdown situations, very few have considered what to do when a lockdown fails. Unfortunately, most mass casualty active shooter incidents in the country have occurred due to lockdown failures or not having the opportunity to initiate a lockdown and not knowing how to respond.
8hr Active Shooter & Intruder Response for Church Personnel
In addition to the 4 hour course the 8 hour course will run familiarization drills to understand the concept and principles used along with scenarios to introduce real life stress.
What to do in an ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION! This course provides options for our Pastors, staff and Congregations. This course was developed to refresh faculty and staff in preparing them for a Critical Incident Response. The course defines the term Active Shooter, lists characteristics to look for in members that are found in typical active shooters. Outlines the steps that can be taken to identify, mitigate, and prevent an active shooter event, introduce the three new response actions parishioners and staff may utilize in a critical incident. This class is an excellent way to refresh your churches preparedness and lay the ground work to hold a live drill on your campus.
As churches and public buildings become better at securing their buildings and implementing useful lockdown and lockdown failure protocols we have already noticed that the next evolution to attackers seeking to victimize those churches and mass transit customers and to target churches and mass transit buses.
Church and mass transit bus drivers being the adult that can most effectively respond already realize that they have a significant responsibility and may already be anxious about this topic. The key to reducing anxiety with our transportation personnel is to educate them on the topics of awareness, safety and intruder response. Once they are educated they really do see that a bus can be secure because of its mobility and design if they are in an aware state of mind, know what to leverage their environment to their advantage and look for and know how to respond to threats that may present themselves outside of the bus or do not present themselves until they are already inside of the bus.
Topics covered:
• Why are church and mass transit buses a target?
• Awareness when approaching stops
• Identifying threat areas at bus stops
• What makes buses difficult to board IF door is not open
• Mobility of buses as a deterrent and mitigation response
• Intruder Response – What if the intruder makes it on the bus?
• Response differences to active shooter vs. hostage taker vs. robbery . . .
Familiar names like Columbine, Jonesboro, Virginia Tech, Paducah, and Newtown, CT, remind us of tragic incidents involving armed intruders and active shooters in schools. These events have been happening in the United States for some time. Initially, people thought law enforcement alone could solve these problems. Schools began creating lockdown policies and running intruder drills, but often they weren't coordinating well with law enforcement. Despite some collaboration, these incidents still occur. So, what's missing?
A Safe Knight Inc. believes the solution lies in a comprehensive community-based approach. Everyone in the community where these schools are located plays a role in preventing and responding to these crises, especially parents. This 2 to 2 ½ hour seminar is designed to be presented to parents, teachers, and community members in an assembly or community setting, with time for questions and answers. It's usually held in the evening to accommodate working parents.
The seminar educates parents and the community on various topics, including:
- Raising awareness in your community
- Assessing church safety
- Addressing the threat of intruders in churches
- Learning from the Secret Service Bystander Study
- Preventing incidents
- Reporting potential threats
- Bullying prevention and response
- Your role if an incident occurs at your church
- Understanding church safety and lockdown plans
Why is the community approach so crucial? When you look closely at these incidents, you realize that it's the community directly impacted. They have to respond and recover from the incident. Often, the suspect is from the community, the location affected is part of the community, and the victims come from the community. Even the police, fire, and EMS responders are community members. These events have long-lasting effects, changing the dynamics of a community forever.
We don't prepare for these incidents because they happen frequently, but because of the profound impact they can have on our community. While we can't prevent all school attacks, we can improve our chances of detecting and preventing them in advance by working together as a community to enhance safety.
Church nurses, teachers, administration personnel, maintenance/facility staff.
Synopsis:
For several years we have addressed how to prevent and respond to a crisis or mass casualty incident in our schools, churches, or other public setting where many people assemble. This course will give you and your staff the skills and tactics you can use to save life and dramatically change the outcome for a critically injured person in less than 60 seconds. When the crisis event occurs medical first responders are trained NOT to be present in the danger area until the crisis scene is safe and secure. This could be up to an hour or more. When a medical emergency occurs, SUCCESS or FAILUREwill be up to the person(s) on scene not professional first responders. In other words, YOU are the first responder! 911 personnel are the second responders!
NOTE:
This is not a basic first aid course! The concepts presented are based upon the most current and innovative techniques currently in use by the United States Military as dictated by the Tactical Combat Casualty Care model as well as civilian EMS trauma guidelines as used by our current emergency response systems. No previous medical training is necessary to participate.
Topics Include:
• What To Do When the Shooting Stops
• Airway Management
• Hemorrhage Control Devices
• Thoracic and Abdominal Trauma
• Basic Medical Equipment and Kits
• Self-Rescue and Partner Rescue
• How to Perform a Physical Exam
• Operating in Low Light
• Sensory Deprived Assessment
• Managing Sensory Overload
• Performing a Hasty Rescue
• Evacuation Platforms for Rescue
Regarding our Training Philosophy and Practices:
Our training staff is composed of professional and experienced coaches and we are students ourselves.
We believe in treating everyone respectfully and as adult learners. Our coaches participate in the learning process and we use a building block approach to solidify skills before moving toward more advanced concepts.
We do not believe in “check the box” training nor do we believe in “lowest common denominator” training. Individual assistance is always available.
Those who are not safe and conscientious with their equipment, those who are not willing to be open-minded, receive new information and try new concepts, and those who are not capable of keeping their ego in check should not enroll in our training.
Logistics and Equipment Required:
• Comfortable clothing suitable for physical activity, movement and simulated rescues
• Knee pads and work gloves
• Hand towel
• High intensity flashlight that will fit in pocket (if available)
Intruder Response for Daycare & Childcare Providers
(LOCKDOWN and LOCKDOWN FAILURE RESPONSE)
This 4 hr. course is designed to provide information and educate daycare and childcare professionals on effective RESPONSE strategies for what to do in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist school personnel in their ability to: quickly and effectively respond; report; and protect themselves and their students from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene.
Overview and historical examination of the evolution of school active shooter events (Enoch Brown, Columbine, VA Tech, Sandy Hook) from the attacker, law enforcement and school based perspectives is an important part of this course. Additionally and an examination of lessons learned from each of these events and an overview of the “psychology of active shooters” is discussed.
Response – Course includes an in depth analysis of recommended school, daycare/childcare facility lockdown (prevent access) protocols from both a “Threat Outside” and “Threat Inside” perspective as well as in depth discussion and video demonstration of lockdown failure protocols. Some daycare and childcare facilities have a plan or policy for what to do during “lockdown” however very few organizations have given any consideration for what to do when “LOCKDOWN FAILS!” Unfortunately most of the mass casualty active shooter incidents across the country have been as a result of lockdown failure or not ever having a chance to get into lockdown and then not knowing what to do. Includes audio and video learning tools that encourage discussion and demonstrate lockdown and lockdown failure protocols for various parts of the school as well as various types of doors (open-in and open-out) and with particular focus on securing areas without locks using a layering and reinforcement strategies. Additionally visitor access control/management and entrance area security strategies are discussed as well.
TOPICS COVERED & PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS:
A walk through of the daycare/childcare facility and classrooms to cover the safe areas of various rooms and what makes them the safest area.
• Discussion and hands on practice of lock down concept
• Gross motor skill lock down techniques (with & without door locks)
• What to do if a lock down fails
• Secondary exit points
• When to get out and why
• How to fight back in case of a lock down failure including improvised weapons
Final exercise with course participants with the opportunity to practice the various levels of lockdowns, lockdown failures and evacuation principles covered in the class and hands-on portion.
Healthcare Courses
This 4 hour OR 8 hr. course is designed to bridge the gap between responding officers and your Doctors, nurses, administrators and other personnel in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist Doctors, nurses, administrators and other personnel in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their coworkers from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
4 hr. Active Shooter & Intruder Response for Healthcare Personnel
(LOCKDOWN & LOCKDOWN FAILURE RESPONSE)
This 4 hr. course is designed to provide information and educate all personnel on effective RESPONSE strategies for what to do in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist healthcare personnel in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their students from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
Overview and historical examination of the evolution of active shooter events from the attacker, law enforcement and school based perspectives is an important part of this course. Additionally and an examination of lessons learned from each of these events is discussed.
Response – Course includes an in depth analysis of recommended Hospitals, Clinics and office lockdown (prevent access) protocols from both a “Threat Outside” and “Threat Inside” perspective. Most Hospitals, Clinics and offices have a plan or policy for what to do during “lockdown” however very few have given any consideration for what to do when “LOCKDOWN FAILS!” Unfortunately most of the mass casualty worker active shooter incidents across the country have been as a result of lockdown failure or not ever having a chance to get into lockdown and then not knowing what to do. Includes audio and video learning tools that encourage discussion and demonstrate lockdown and lockdown failure protocols for various parts of the business as well as various types of doors (open-in and open-out) and with particular focus on securing areas without locks using a layering and reinforcement strategies. Additionally visitor access control/management and entrance area security strategies are discussed as well.
This 4 hour OR 8 hr. course is designed to bridge the gap between responding officers and church administrators and other church personnel in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist congregation in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their congregation from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
8 hr. Active Shooter & Intruder Response for Healthcare Personnel
The 8 hour version of the course also covers information on the PREVENTION phase of these types of incidents.
Prevention – The “prevention” portion of the 8 hr. course includes an in depth analysis of the Presidential Directive 8 which outlines the National Preparedness. The national preparedness goal shall be informed by the risk of specific threats and vulnerabilities – taking into account regional variations – and include concrete, measurable, and prioritized objectives to mitigate that risk. The national preparedness goal shall define the core capabilities necessary to prepare for the specific types of incidents that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation, and shall emphasize actions aimed at achieving an integrated, layered, and all-of-Nation preparedness approach that optimizes the use of available resources. The national preparedness goal shall reflect the policy direction outlined in the National Security Strategy (May 2010), applicable Presidential Policy Directives, Homeland Security Presidential Directives, National Security Presidential Directives, and national strategies, as well as guidance from the Inter-agency Policy Committee process. The goal shall be reviewed regularly to evaluate consistency with these policies, evolving conditions, and the National Incident Management System.
Both of the above courses will be broken into two modules. The first portion will be a classroom portion covering the following areas: Overview and historical examination of active shooters; an examination of lessons learned; Behavioral precursors; threat assessments; School lockdowns; what to do when a lockdown fails and Rapid deployment response by law enforcement personnel. The second portion will be a four hour practical hands on training block for law enforcement consisting of drills, scenarios and exercises. During this block office personnel will participate so that they can practice the lockdown & lockdown failure strategies and principles that were previously demonstrated.
A walk through of the Hospital, clinic and complex to cover the safe areas of various rooms and what makes them the safest area.
• Discussion and hands on practice of lock down concept
• What to do if a lock down fails
• Secondary exit points
• When to get out and why
• How to fight back in case of a lock down failure including improvised weapons
• Final exercise with the LE students with the opportunity to practice the various levels of lockdowns, lockdown failures and evacuation principles covered in the class and hands-on portion.
• Recognize and understand phenomenon of “Normalcy Bias” and training relative to overcoming this phenomenon
• Understand sensory based decision making and how it affects proper and improper response to the crisis
Additionally we can conduct and evening seminar titled “Community’s Response to the threat of Active Shooters” on same evenings as the course for community members. Historically these have been very well received and go a long ways towards giving the community in general peace of mind that your business is doing everything you can to prepare for this worst case scenario event. The format for these presentations is a 1 to 1 1⁄2 hour lecture in an assembly format that discusses history & demographics of these events as well as educating parents as to what they can do as far as discussions with their kids as far as the importance of sharing information with an adult if they hear something in the form of jokes or rumors. Additionally we emphasize the statistics and realities that overall workplace historically are very safe places to be. These evening sessions for the community have been very well received.
What to do in an ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION! This course provides options for our staff. This course was developed to refresh your staff in preparing them for a Critical Incident Response. The course defines the term Active Shooter, lists characteristics to look for in coworkers that are found in typical active shooters. Outlines the steps that can be taken to identify, mitigate, and prevent an active shooter event, introduce the three new response actions staff may utilize in a critical incident. This class is an excellent way to refresh your workplace preparedness and lay the ground work to hold a live drill at your location.
Objectives & Topics Covered
The objectives & topics covered are to provide healthcare leadership, management, security and front line personnel with information and strategies on recognizing and responding to the dynamic challenges and issues violent incidents within the healthcare workplace. Additionally the overall goal is to provide the course participant with guiding principles and strategies to recognize behavioral pre-cursors to threatening & potentially violent incidents. Additional goals that will be covered will principles and strategies to prevent, de-escalate & mitigate incidents of violence.
• Recognize the frequency of violence in the healthcare industry in comparison to private industry
• Identify & recognize risk factors that are inherent to the healthcare industry
• Understand history & demographics violent incidents within the healthcare environment
• Recognize on duty law enforcement capabilities in responding to these types of incidents
• Understanding the importance of awareness, education & training for front line personnel.
• Understand & identify prevention strategies to workplace violence
• Understand and implement principles of a “lockdown” in the workplace
• Identify strategies for “personal awareness & safety” for employees arriving and departing the workplace.
• Understand and implementing verbal conflict conflict management & de-escalation strategies
For more information about the training and consulting related to “Healthcare Intruder Response & Violence” please feel free to call us at 910-975-3591 or email at training@acirtives.com.
Workplace Courses
What is Workplace Violence? Workplace Violence as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor (i.e. OSHA) as: “Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior, or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting. A workplace may be any location either permanent or temporary where an employee performs any work-related duty. This includes, but is not limited to, the buildings and the surrounding perimeters, including the parking lots, field locations, clients’ homes and traveling to and from work assignments” While agreeing on that broader definition of the problem, specialists have also come to a consensus that workplace violence falls into four broad categories. They are:
• Violence by Strangers: Violent acts by criminals, who have no other connection with the workplace, but enter to commit robbery or another crime.
• Violence by Customers/Clients: Violence directed at employees by customers, clients, patients, students, inmates, or any others for whom an organization provides services.
• Violence by Co-workers: Violence against coworkers, supervisors, or managers by a present or former employee.
• Violence by Personal Relationships: Violence committed in the workplace by someone who doesn’t work there, but has a personal relationship with an employee-an abusive spouse or domestic partner.
What are the Legal Issues? To some extent, the law puts conflicting pressures on employers and others concerned with preventing or mitigating workplace violence. On the one hand, businesses are under a variety of legal obligations to safeguard their employees’ well-being and security.
• Federal Requirements – OSHA’s occupational safety laws require companies to maintain a safe workplace, which embraces safety from violence. For example, the “General Duty Clause” of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to have a workplace that is “free from recognized hazards.
• State Requirements – Workers compensation laws, similarly, make employers responsible for job-related injuries.
• Civil Requirements – Civil rights laws require employers to protect employees against various forms of harassment, including threats or violence. In addition, employers may face civil liability after a workplace violence incident on a number of grounds—if there was negligence in hiring or retaining a dangerous person, for example, or a failure to provide proper supervision, training or physical safety measures.
Can it Happen at My Work? Here are some facts when considering whether or not it “can happen” at your workplace. Recognizing that workplace violence (serious and lesser) occurs at almost all workplaces is the first step to preventing and preparing for an effective response. For example DID YOU KNOW?:
• 2 Million Americans each year are victims of workplace violence of some sort
• 1,000 Americans are killed in the workplace each year
• 40,000 Americans are victims of aggravated assault in the workplace each year
• Workplace homicides account for 1 out of every 6 fatal occupational injuries each year
• More assaults occur in the healthcare and social service industry than any other occupation
Prevention & Preparation Preventing and responding to violent or potentially violent intruders at our places of employment should include the development of policies and procedures to address the following:
• Informing & Enforcing “Zero Tolerance” as the expectation
• Behavioral pre-cursors to “workplace violence”
• Recognizing behavioral pre-cursors and effective intervention to such
• Developing atmosphere and support resources for open communication
• Physical Security Entry Access Protocols
• Program & Policy Development
• Lock Down Protocols
• Secure in Place vs. Immediate Evacuation Response Protocols
• Employee management & locating during “secure in place” decisions
• What to expect from the law enforcement response
Liaison w/ local law enforcement response & coordination of emergency action planning.
This 4 hour OR 8 hr. course is designed to bridge the gap between responding officers and your workers, administrators and other personnel in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist office personnel in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their coworkers from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
4 hr. Active Shooter & Intruder Response for Office Personnel
(LOCKDOWN & LOCKDOWN FAILURE RESPONSE)
This 4 hr. course is designed to provide information and educate all office personnel (administrators, reception/secretarial, support staff) on effective RESPONSE strategies for what to do in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist office personnel in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their students from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
Overview and historical examination of the evolution of school active shooter events (Enoch Brown, Columbine, VA Tech, Sandy Hook) from the attacker, law enforcement and school based perspectives is an important part of this course. Additionally and an examination of lessons learned from each of these events is discussed.
Response – Course includes an in depth analysis of recommended school lockdown (prevent access) protocols from both a “Threat Outside” and “Threat Inside” perspective. Most corporate offices have a plan or policy for what to do during “lockdown” however very few have given any consideration for what to do when “LOCKDOWN FAILS!”Unfortunately most of the mass casualty worker active shooter incidents across the country have been as a result of lockdown failure or not ever having a chance to get into lockdown and then not knowing what to do. Includes audio and video learning tools that encourage discussion and demonstrate lockdown and lockdown failure protocols for various parts of the business as well as various types of doors (open-in and open-out) and with particular focus on securing areas without locks using a layering and reinforcement strategies. Additionally visitor access control/management and entrance area security strategies are discussed as well.
This 4 hour OR 8 hr. course is designed to bridge the gap between responding officers and church administrators and other church personnel in an active shooter situation. The course is designed to assist congregation in their ability to: prevent; report; and protect themselves and their congregation from an active shooter during the critical moments while waiting for a police presence to arrive and what to expect from the officers once they are on scene. It is also designed to provide law enforcement officers with the necessary skill sets and mindset to properly respond to these extremely difficult situations.
8 hr. Active Shooter & Intruder Response for Healthcare Personnel
The 8 hour version of the course also covers information on the PREVENTION phase of these types of incidents.
Prevention – The “prevention” portion of the 8 hr. course includes an in depth analysis of the Presidential Directive 8 which outlines the National Preparedness. The national preparedness goal shall be informed by the risk of specific threats and vulnerabilities – taking into account regional variations – and include concrete, measurable, and prioritized objectives to mitigate that risk. The national preparedness goal shall define the core capabilities necessary to prepare for the specific types of incidents that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation, and shall emphasize actions aimed at achieving an integrated, layered, and all-of-Nation preparedness approach that optimizes the use of available resources. The national preparedness goal shall reflect the policy direction outlined in the National Security Strategy (May 2010), applicable Presidential Policy Directives, Homeland Security Presidential Directives, National Security Presidential Directives, and national strategies, as well as guidance from the Interagency Policy Committee process. The goal shall be reviewed regularly to evaluate consistency with these policies, evolving conditions, and the National Incident Management System.
Both of the above courses will be broken into two modules. The first portion will be a classroom portion covering the following areas: Overview and historical examination of active shooters; an examination of lessons learned; Behavioral pre-cursors; threat assessments; School lockdowns; what to do when a lockdown fails and Rapid deployment response by law enforcement personnel. The second portion will be a four hour practical hands on training block for law enforcement consisting of drills, scenarios and exercises. During this block office personnel will participate so that they can practice the lockdown & lockdown failure strategies and principles that were previously demonstrated.
A walk through of the business and complex to cover the safe areas of various rooms and what makes them the safest area.
• Discussion and hands on practice of lock down concept
• What to do if a lock down fails
• Secondary exit points
• When to get out and why
• How to fight back in case of a lock down failure including improvised weapons
• Final exercise with the LE students with the opportunity to practice the various levels of lockdowns, lockdown failures and evacuation principles covered in the class and hands-on portion.
• Recognize and understand phenomenon of “Normalcy Bias” and training relative to overcoming this phenomenon
• Understand sensory based decision making and how it affects proper and improper response to the crisis
Additionally we can conduct and evening seminar titled “Community’s Response to the threat of Active Shooters” on same evenings as the course for community members. Historically these have been very well received and go a long ways towards giving the community in general peace of mind that your business is doing everything you can to prepare for this worst case scenario event. The format for these presentations is a 1 to 1 1⁄2 hour lecture in an assembly format that discusses history & demographics of these events as well as educating parents as to what they can do as far as discussions with their kids as far as the importance of sharing information with an adult if they hear something in the form of jokes or rumors. Additionally we emphasize the statistics and realities that overall workplace historically are very safe places to be. These evening sessions for the community have been very well received.
What to do in an ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION! This course provides options for our staff. This course was developed to refresh your staff in preparing them for a Critical Incident Response. The course defines the term Active Shooter, lists characteristics to look for in coworkers that are found in typical active shooters. Outlines the steps that can be taken to identify, mitigate, and prevent an active shooter event, introduce the three new response actions staff may utilize in a critical incident. This class is an excellent way to refresh your workplace preparedness and lay the ground work to hold a live drill at your location.
The names are familiar; Columbine, Jonesboro, Virginia Tech, Paducah, and now Newtown, CT. These far too tragic occurrences of armed intruders and active shooters in our workplaces have been going on for quite some time here in the United States. For a long time the solutions to these tragic events were seen as issues that law enforcement organizations were responsible to solve. Workplaces then started drafting lockdown policies and conducting intruder drills, however the two entities were many times not working together. Now law enforcement and businesses have started to work together but we still see these incidents occurring so what is missing?
A Safe Knight Inc. believes the solutions to preventing and effectively responding to these crisis events has to be a holistic, all inclusive approach from the community in which these businesses are located. We all have a vested interest in making our community businesses safer for our families. What has been missing is educating the community and defining their role in addressing these very important issues. This 2 to 2 ½ hour seminar is intended to be presented in an assembly or community format and includes a time set aside for Q&A from community members. We most often present this seminar in the evening time allowing for community that work to attend.
This course is designed to educate the community about the following topics:
• Increase your level of awareness in your community
• Is our Business safe?
• Threat of intruders in our business
• Review the Secret Service Bystander Study and lessons learned
• How to help prevent incidents
• How to report any potential threats
• Bullying Prevention tips and what to do if you are being bullied
• What your role should be if an incident occurs at your business
• An overview of business safety and lockdown plans
Why is the community approach so important? When you really analyze these incidents you start to realize that it will be your community that is directly impacted by the incident, has to respond to the incident and has to recover from the incident. A large percentage of the time the suspect is a member of the community, the location that suffers from the attack will be a part of the community, the victims of the attack will be from your community, the police, fire and EMS will be from your community. The adverse effects of these events will have a long lasting impact on your community and will change the dynamics of a community forever.
We do not prepare for these incidents due to the FREQUENCY of these events but more importantly we prepare because of the IMPACT these types incidents would have on our community. While we cannot prevent all school attacks from happening we can increase the possibilities of finding out about these attacks before they occur and as a community we can much more effectively work together to make our community safer.
This course is usually most effectively delivered on the same evening that your school conducts “Workplace Intruder Response” training.
If you would like more information about hosting this course in your community or at your school please contact us by emailing training@acirtives.com or calling us at 910-975-3591.
Your business administration personnel, maintenance/facility staff. Course is valid for instructors.
Synopsis:
For several years we have addressed how to prevent and respond to a crisis or mass casualty incident in our schools, churches, or other public setting where many people assemble. This course will give you and your staff the skills and tactics you can use to save life and dramatically change the outcome for a critically injured person in less than 60 seconds. When the crisis event occurs medical first responders are trained NOT to be present in the danger area until the crisis scene is safe and secure. This could be up to an hour or more. When a medical emergency occurs, SUCCESS or FAILURE will be up to the person(s) on scene not professional first responders. In other words, YOU are the first responder! 911 personnel are the second responders!
NOTE:
This is not a basic first aid course! The concepts presented are based upon the most current and innovative techniques currently in use by the United States Military as dictated by the Tactical Combat Casualty Care model as well as civilian EMS trauma guidelines as used by our current emergency response systems. No previous medical training is necessary to participate.
Topics Include:
• What To Do When the Shooting Stops
• Airway Management
• Hemorrhage Control Devices
• Thoracic and Abdominal Trauma
• Basic Medical Equipment and Kits
• Self-Rescue and Partner Rescue
• How to Perform a Physical Exam
• Operating in Low Light
• Sensory Deprived Assessment
• Managing Sensory Overload
• Performing a Hasty Rescue
• Evacuation Platforms for Rescue
Regarding our Training Philosophy and Practices:
Our training staff is composed of professional and experienced coaches and we are students ourselves.
We believe in treating everyone respectfully and as adult learners. Our coaches participate in the learning process and we use a building block approach to solidify skills before moving toward more advanced concepts.
We do not believe in “check the box” training nor do we believe in “lowest common denominator” training. Individual assistance is always available.
Those who are not safe and conscientious with their equipment, those who are not willing to be open-minded, receive new information and try new concepts, and those who are not capable of keeping their ego in check should not enroll in our trainings.
Logistics and Equipment Required:
• Comfortable clothing suitable for physical activity, movement and simulated rescues
• Knee pads and work gloves
• Hand towel
• High intensity flashlight that will fit in pocket (if available)