Responding to an Active Shooter Situation-- Guidance from the Department of Homeland Security

Responding to an Active Shooter Situation-- Guidance from the Department of Homeland Security

Several of us in the office recently attended a day-long review of current information on preventing and responding to workplace violence.  Of particular interest was information on responding to relatively rare but potentially deadly “Active Shooter” incidents.   Information and protocols on how to respond to an active shooter have been revised and refined in the years since the Columbine massacre.  If you have not seen the 2008 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pamphlet, Active Shooter—How to Respond, we recommend that you review it and make the information available to your employees. The pamphlet provides guidance to managers and employees who may be caught in an active shooter situation and discusses how to react when law enforcement responds. You can find the pamphlet attached below or on the DHS website at http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf

The pamphlet covers the following information:

• Profile of an active shooter
• Good practices for coping with an active shooter situation
• How to respond when an active shooter is in your Vicinity
• How to respond when law enforcement arrives
• Training your staff for an active shooter situation
• Components of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP)
• Components of Training Exercises
• Preparing for and managing an active shooter situation
• Reactions of managers during an Active Shooter situation
• Assisting individuals with special needs and/or disabilities
• Recognizing potential workplace violence
• Managing the consequences of an active shooter situation

The reference section of the pamphlet includes OSHA’s 2001 guidance document, How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations (OSHA 3088), which can be found on the OSHA website at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3088.html