Active shooter training exercises are becoming more commonplace across the country; which is a good thing. However, without proper planning, many of these well-meaning exercises leave the responders no better off than before or possibly even worse. A strong, multi-discipline exercise design team, a solid exercise plan and buy in from the responding disciplines are critical ingredients for success.
Use these lessons from active shooter exercises I have observed to develop best practices for designing, implementing and executing a worthwhile, productive and enlightening exercise to better prepare all of the emergency responders for the – once in a career – horrific day. The following active shooter incident (ASI) training exercise observations are all real. Read the scenario and pick out what’s wrong before reading my commentary.