{"id":8867,"date":"2018-07-27T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=8867"},"modified":"2018-07-27T18:00:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:00:48","slug":"how-to-prepare-for-an-active-shooter-incident-in-your-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=8867","title":{"rendered":"How to Prepare for an Active Shooter Incident in Your Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Active shooter trainings help prepare communities for worst-case scenarios. Photo: \u00a9Aleksandr Matveev\/stock.Adobe.com<\/p><\/div>\n

(StatePoint) Active shooter incidents are rare. You are 700 times more likely to die in a car crash, for example, than from an active shooter event, according to the National Safety Council. However, these terrifying events are on the rise. Experts say that being prepared can save lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it takes a tragedy to bring a community together \u2013 a hurricane, a flood or an active shooter. How much better would it be to be prepared in advance and mitigate that tragedy?\u201d says Dan Martin, a retired police officer in New Lenox, Ill., and leader of the New Lenox Safe Communities coalition. \u201cEach time I lead an active shooter course I see lightbulbs go on in people\u2019s heads that they can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because most active shooter incidents are over in a couple of minutes \u2014 often before first-responders can arrive on the scene \u2014 Martin says it\u2019s crucial for private citizens to turn their panic into effective action and know what steps they can take to improve their chances of survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreparing for an active shooter emergency starts with situational awareness. Know what is going on around you all the time, trust your instincts and devise a plan,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To prepare, everyone can take the following steps:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Learn emergency notification systems and distinctive alarms used in places you frequent.
\n\u2022 Identify two possible escape routes wherever you are.
\n\u2022 Find places to hide.<\/p>\n

During an active shooter event, don\u2019t spend important moments panicking. Public safety experts say that you should be ready to do one of the following:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Run: Always the first choice; get out and take others with you.
\n\u2022 Hide: Find a place to hide; act quickly, turn off lights, lock and block doors, silence cell phones
\n\u2022 Fight: The last resort; improvise weapons and work alone or with others to disarm the shooter.<\/p>\n

Community leaders can improve safety in their public spaces, such as concert venues, shopping malls, houses of worship and other places where people gather, by offering residents free active shooter training from the National Safety Council. The Council\u2019s \u201cSurviving an Active Shooter Event\u201d is a two-hour training that covers how active shooter situations unfold, how to be situationally aware and what actions are necessary to improve one\u2019s odds of survival. Training can be led by any community leader who can effectively speak in front of groups and follow detailed course materials. To learn more about partnering with NSC to bring active shooter training to your community, visit\u00a0nsc.org\/trainactiveshooter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Active shooter incidents are terrifying and often result in multiple fatalities very quickly. While no one wants to dwell on such devastating, worst-case scenarios, being prepared can save lives. Take steps to learn how to make your community safer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(StatePoint) Active shooter incidents are rare. You are 700 times more likely to die in a car crash, for example, than from an active shooter event, according to the National Safety Council. However, these terrifying events are on the rise. Experts say that being prepared can save lives. \u201cSometimes it takes a tragedy to bring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web-exclusive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8869,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867\/revisions\/8869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}