JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
Do you or your employees know how to properly respond when an active shooter is in your workplace? What if your workplace receives a bomb threat instead? How do you properly respond to save your life and the lives of others in your work environment?
These were the challenges employees and supervisors faced during a Joint Base San Antonio Active Shooter Exercise July 19, 2017 at Building 1, JBSA-Lackland, vicinity Port San Antonio, when the public address system inadvertently announced there was a bomb threat instead of an active shooter.
“They evacuated as you are supposed to for a bomb threat,” explained Tech. Sgt. Brian Fowler, 802nd Security Forces Squadron NCO in charge of emergency services team. “The wing inspection team realized the error and activated the active shooter alarm.”
However, once the messaging error was corrected, those same employees returned back to the building to “lockdown” and “seek shelter.”
“People who already evacuated (the building) tried to go inside to hide,” Fowler continued. “At that point, they were reintroducing potential victims into the area, which is a bad thing. Hiding and barricading is an option and part of the response for an active shooter, but it shouldn’t be your first choice if you have a clear line of escape. The number one option is to get away from the threat.”
“Get away from the active shooter and seek shelter somewhere else,” added Edwin Gutierrez, 802nd SFS chief of standardization and evaluations. “Shelter can be any building.”
Responding correctly to a workplace crisis, regardless of what it may be, is important because it reduces potential casualties as the actions you take can mean the difference between life or death.
“In any crisis situation or any situation where there is a danger of loss of life or serious bodily harm – generally speaking – time is going to be of the essence,” Fowler said. “In an active shooter scenario, time equals lives because, on average, every four seconds an individual is shot. Being able to recognize the situation for what it is and then take the appropriate actions as quickly as possible is what is going to save the most amount of lives.”
“Doing the wrong thing could get you or others hurt or killed, or interfere with the response of emergency responders,” he added. “Security forces are not supposed to render aid to anyone while the threat is still active. We are looking for the guy with the gun and everybody in the (building) forces us to make a life or death decision on whether to shoot or not, whether that person is a threat or not. That takes time and time equals lives.”
When there is an active shooter, you are advised to:
- Run: Running is the first and best option. Leave your belongings; help others evacuate, if possible; and evacuate, whether or not others agree to follow. Prevent others from entering an area the shooter may be located at and do not attempted to move wounded personnel. Furthermore, do not assume others have called 9-1-1. Call as soon as it is safe to do so and do not hang up until told to do so by the operator.
- Hide: Lock doors; block them with heavy furniture, if possible; and stay clear of doors and windows. Also, turn off the lights, phones and any sources of noise like TVs. Continue to look for an exit and escape when possible.
- Fight: As a last option, use whatever means possible, such as improvised weapons, to overpower the subject(s) to save lives. Be decisive and aggressive.
“You want to get away area if you can,” Gutierrez said. “Hide and fight are last resorts and you want to ensure you practice in that manner.”
“All those responses are to deny him access to victims,” Fowler said. “An active shooter is looking for a captive audience; a lot of people in a confined space: work centers, cubical farms, movie theaters, high schools, colleges. That population density means he has more victims and he can wound and kill a lot faster than if he had individuals spread out over a large area. He can inflict the maximum amount of casualties in the minimum amount of time. He knows that law enforcement and emergency vehicles are on their way and he has a certain window of opportunity and a finite amount of time to inflict as many casualties as possible.”
“By fleeing the area, you are reducing that population density and number of potential casualties, which means he has to go looking for people, which in turns buys us (law enforcement) time to get there,” he continued.
If someone calls about a bomb threat, you are advised to:
- Do not hang up, even if the caller disconnects. Do not put the phone back on the receiver. Call 9-1-1 from another telephone.
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Fill out a bomb threat form, which should be located by every telephone, and ask questions about the bomb, its location and the caller. Get as much information as possible and keep the caller on the line and talking.
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Simultaneously, while on the phone with the bomber, initiate evacuation of the building and notify the police.
- Evacuate in an orderly and calm fashion.
Frequent exercises on various man-made or natural disasters or incidents provide the opportunity to practice these techniques.
When these life-threatening situations occur, it’s difficult to think critically and make rational decisions because of fight-or-flight instincts. There isn’t a lot of time to think. Action has to be taken quickly. Having these procedures as muscle memory will make these actions a habit and an instinctual response, which will help save lives, Fowler explained.
“We want to make sure we save the most amount of lives as possible,” Gutierrez added. “We are all responsible for each other. We all need to make sure we know what to do so that we all can go home at the end of the day. If everyone does what they need to do in an emergency situation then odds are there will be less of a body count.”
Security forces offers classes on responding to active shooters for base population. The classes are by request. To request a class, call (210) 671-9972. For further information about bomb threats, contact the unit antiterrorism representative or emergency management.
(Editor’s Note: The shooter was identified as “he” for clarity of the article, but active shooters may be male or female.)
(Source: Air Force active shooter response and lockdown notification procedures pamphlet)