Active shooter
training really takes a lot of hard work and realistic scenes. There are
exercises, different work-outs, relevant activities that need to be performed.
There has to be proper planning of all the things and there are a few things
that need to be avoided by the participants. There are a few flaws which need
to be avoided while active shooter training, which are mentioned below.
Very long
shoot-outs
Gun-fight training
with your colleagues in practice might be fun for you. However, in real shoots,
there are lots of dangers. One should be well-trained for prolonged shoot
incidents.
More Downtime
If there are some group of responders like police,
commanders, EMS, firemen, etc. and if there is a lot of downtimes, then the active
shooter response training becomes boring. There will be more complaints
popping up. So, the timings should be watched and things should keep moving.
Unrealistic scenes
You should use real-world
scenarios, events, reports, etc. for good active
shooter response training. If you are thinking that just a couple of
injured people and lots of bad guys will work, that may not really work. Instead,
lots of injured people, two perpetrators and many people who are panicking,
hiding, helping or running here and there, looks to be a real scenario.
Do not be overly
hard on the participants.
Do not be too persnickety.
Avoid being too rude or harsh on the participants. The evaluators, instead,
have to guide the participants rightly. The experience of the active shooter response training should
not be like that of a military boot camp to the participants. Corrective action
plans and gaps for future exercises and training must be first identified.
Inadequate
equipment for the rescue teams
It is necessary to have proper and enough training equipment for the teams. It is not a good sign
and will never help the proper training
of the participants. The participants want real training; they cannot be left
half-trained.
The above-mentioned mistakes must be avoided to make the
training real, interesting, relevant and captivating. The emergency responders
have to develop in them the best practices for implementing, designing and
executing the enlightening and productive exercises.
