Does your Active Shooter Response Training provide realistic and practical solutions for real-life??

Since the Vegas attack the thought of Active Shooter Response Training has been on everyone’s mind. I have seen a variety of advertisements for such training. In and of itself that isn’t a bad thing and it doesn’t automatically mean that those that are offering Active Shooting Response Training are trying to take advantage of a bad situation. The unfortunate reality is that this type of training has become a necessity in today’s world and there are quality instructors out there that can provide such a service. The better trained and prepared people are to avoid or deal with these types of worst-case scenarios the better their chances of surviving.

That being said, it’s important to understand that training of this nature is like everything else in life. There is good, there is bad, and there is the outright dangerous. If you choose to seek out Active Shooter Response Training, whether for yourself or your organization, it’s in your best interest to make sure that the training you receive will provide you with practical solutions and realistic options within the confines of a worst-case scenario. 

So, what should one look for to ensure that the course or class provides realistic and practical options? Good question! 

Here are some questions to help you come to a conclusion-

-Is the course  based solely on talking / lecture or does it emphasize “hands-on” training? Powerpoint presentations combined with informative lectures are great BUT they DO NOT provide realistic and practical TRAINING! The term training means that you must mentally and physically practice the skills and apply the knowledge during the class. This is usually done through physical drills and realistic scenarios. If the course or class neglects the “hands-on” portion it will not adequately prepare anyone to save themselves or anyone else during an active shooter event.

-Is the course being taught only by law enforcement or military personnel? While this alone isn’t a bad thing it’s very important to note that what law enforcement officers and soldiers are trained to do during scenarios like this is dramatically different than what us civilians should be doing. Often times the instructors forget that they are presenting to civilians and tend to wander into areas that simply don’t apply to civilians. Sometimes they even present techniques and tactics that might work well for armed police and soldiers but may fail miserably for an unarmed civilian. The best instructors will have an equal mix of specialized training from various fields to include law enforcement, military, and the civilian world OR they will co-teach with qualified civilian instructors.

-Does the course include “hands-on” practice of physical survival skills? If so are these self-defense skills very simple and universal for most or are they heavily based on complex martial arts or defensive tactics training? Remember this will likely be a single training course so the skills covered MUST BE simple to learn, easy to remember, and applicable under the extreme stress of a life-threatening situation. They must be high percentage skills, meaning those skills most likely to work for the majority of the people, the majority of the time, and under the majority of similar circumstances. The course should also include methods for getting bystanders to assist and engage the threat when possible as opposed to just teaching individuals to engage the shooter by themselves.

-Does the course cover the physiological aspects of dealing with extreme violence? When faced with a worst-case scenario of this nature we all experience the dreaded adrenal rush. If you aren’t familiar with it or you have no idea how it’s going to affect your ability to function under stress then you are not fully prepared to deal with a worst-case scenario.

-Does the course cover mental preparation (Mind-Set) and it’s relation to surviving extreme violence? The reality is that the Mind-set is often the determining factor for one’s ability to survive worst-case scenarios like an active shooter event. You can learn the best strategies and physical tactics in the world but if you lack the appropriate Mind-Set those skills will be next to useless when violence erupts. If this component is not addressed during the course then sadly the course is not providing realistic solutions for these types of scenarios.

So, if you plan to seek out a course on how to deal with this worst-case scenarios and specifically an active shooter event you can use these questions to guide you in the right direction. Don't be mislead based on who is presenting the course, their background, or the terminology they choose to use.