An
active shooter is a person actively engaged in attempting to kill people, often
without a pattern or method to their selection of victims. September is National Preparedness
Month. This week, Patti Andrews, Public
Health Nurse and Unit Leader of the Ida County MRC, shares important practices
for dealing with an active shooter situation.
“Active
shooter situations are unpredictable and develop quickly,” states Patti.
“Individuals must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with these
circumstances. Just as knowing ‘Stop, Drop, Roll’ is an important part of fire
safety, ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ helps people cope with an active shooter situation.
Patti
shared some good practices for coping with an active shooter. 1) Quickly
determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life. 2) Run – If there
is a safe escape path, evacuate the building. 3) Hide – If evacuation is not possible, find
a place to hide. It should be out of the
shooter’s view and provide protection if shots are fired in your
direction. Remember to lock the door and
blockade it with heavy furniture.
Silence your cell phone and remain quiet. 4) Fight – As a last resort,
and only if your life is in imminent danger, work with others to attempt to
incapacitate the shooter by improvising weapons and acting as aggressively as
possible against him/her.
