USITT 2018 had a panel session titled: Situational Awareness: Planning and Process for Active Shooter/Armed Aggressor Scenarios.
The Panel featured:
Jenifer Mason: Security Manager- Walt Disney World
Dominic Yeager: Director, Arts Management- The University of Alabama
Douglas Goerke: Intelligence Unit Commander- Orlando Police Department
Jennifer Mason: Security Manager-Walt Disney World Emergency Management
Maria Bouffard: Director of Emergency Management- Yale University
Steven Adelman: Vice President- Event Safety Alliance
It was an all question and answer session. Below are some highlights from the discussion:
Houselights on or off?
First the police like the lights on so that they can see where the bad guy is. So turn the house lights on. But more than that get on the God Mic and instruct people to get up and fight back this is not a drill. People go into the theater to turn off reality and be entertained. It can be difficult for them to make the transition from fantasy to reality. Turning the lights on and telling people this is not a drill, telling them how to exit... or to stay locked in... will help them react logically to the situation.
Should I pull the fire alarm?
No, the fire department are not the correct people to protect you from a shooter. Plus, depending on the facility activating a fire alarm may disable other aspects of the emergency communications system.
Should I stay or run?
If you don't get out, you can't send help in. So, run and take as many people with you as possible. Don't think of this as being a coward running away think of it as leading as many others out of danger as possible. Once on the outside you are a critical resource for the police since you know the situation and the theater.
Planning
The entire staff needs to be trained on what the emergency plan is. Work with your local police and fire department. Contact them now. Create your plan with their help. Don't let the first time your police (or fire) department walks inside your theater be in a crisis.
What sort of plan?
"Run. Hide. Fight." is a common strategy these days.
Yale uses a variation of this that I found really good.
1) Plan : this may include Run. Hide. Fight. But have a plan and train for it.
2) Evaluate : Reality never works out exactly as the plan. So, when the moment comes stop and think creatively about the plan and the reality of your situation. Evaluate what part of the plan, what variation of the plan, what improvisation on the plan, will work best.
3) Respond : Respond based on the plan and your new evaluation of the situation.
What can I do to reassure my staff?
Plan and talk openly. It's scary for everyone. Admit it. By thinking about what you would do you take some control over the fear. By preparing and planning, thinking about it you make everyone safer.
Should I lock people in?
From a lawyer's point of view it's a whole lot easier to defend a lawsuit for locking someone in, inorder to protect them than it is to defend a wrongful death case for just letting them leave into the arms of a shooter. Reality is it may be difficult to keep them in depending on the group and the location.
And a few misc thoughts:
If you are doing a show with firearms on stage in this current environment it's a good idea to include a notice, just like you do for strobe lights.
You can't plan for everything. Know that from a legal point of view, emergency planning needs to be tailored to your most reasonably foreseeable hazards. So make good plans for the most logical things.
Call the police about anything suspicious. BUT only report what you KNOW, not what you have heard. The panelist from Disneyworld told a story about a situation where there was an argument in a restaurant and a tray fell on the floor. Within minutes the situation was peacefully resolved by Disney staff. However around the restaurant, words of shots fired spread quickly and people were running from the park for their lives saying shots had been fired.
When you are creating your plans for security think like a bad guy. Look for the weaknesses in your security. How would I get in? How could I do the most damage. Yes it's difficult, but it will lead you to find problems you need to adress.
And finally they encouraged people to not spend lots of time creating their own plans. Instead find a good emergency plan and modify it for your own use. The panelist from Yale shared their emergency response website http://emergency.yale.edu
The Panel featured:
Jenifer Mason: Security Manager- Walt Disney World
Dominic Yeager: Director, Arts Management- The University of Alabama
Douglas Goerke: Intelligence Unit Commander- Orlando Police Department
Jennifer Mason: Security Manager-Walt Disney World Emergency Management
Maria Bouffard: Director of Emergency Management- Yale University
Steven Adelman: Vice President- Event Safety Alliance
It was an all question and answer session. Below are some highlights from the discussion:
Houselights on or off?
First the police like the lights on so that they can see where the bad guy is. So turn the house lights on. But more than that get on the God Mic and instruct people to get up and fight back this is not a drill. People go into the theater to turn off reality and be entertained. It can be difficult for them to make the transition from fantasy to reality. Turning the lights on and telling people this is not a drill, telling them how to exit... or to stay locked in... will help them react logically to the situation.
Should I pull the fire alarm?
No, the fire department are not the correct people to protect you from a shooter. Plus, depending on the facility activating a fire alarm may disable other aspects of the emergency communications system.
Should I stay or run?
If you don't get out, you can't send help in. So, run and take as many people with you as possible. Don't think of this as being a coward running away think of it as leading as many others out of danger as possible. Once on the outside you are a critical resource for the police since you know the situation and the theater.
Planning
The entire staff needs to be trained on what the emergency plan is. Work with your local police and fire department. Contact them now. Create your plan with their help. Don't let the first time your police (or fire) department walks inside your theater be in a crisis.
What sort of plan?
"Run. Hide. Fight." is a common strategy these days.
Yale uses a variation of this that I found really good.
1) Plan : this may include Run. Hide. Fight. But have a plan and train for it.
2) Evaluate : Reality never works out exactly as the plan. So, when the moment comes stop and think creatively about the plan and the reality of your situation. Evaluate what part of the plan, what variation of the plan, what improvisation on the plan, will work best.
3) Respond : Respond based on the plan and your new evaluation of the situation.
What can I do to reassure my staff?
Plan and talk openly. It's scary for everyone. Admit it. By thinking about what you would do you take some control over the fear. By preparing and planning, thinking about it you make everyone safer.
Should I lock people in?
From a lawyer's point of view it's a whole lot easier to defend a lawsuit for locking someone in, inorder to protect them than it is to defend a wrongful death case for just letting them leave into the arms of a shooter. Reality is it may be difficult to keep them in depending on the group and the location.
And a few misc thoughts:
If you are doing a show with firearms on stage in this current environment it's a good idea to include a notice, just like you do for strobe lights.
You can't plan for everything. Know that from a legal point of view, emergency planning needs to be tailored to your most reasonably foreseeable hazards. So make good plans for the most logical things.
Call the police about anything suspicious. BUT only report what you KNOW, not what you have heard. The panelist from Disneyworld told a story about a situation where there was an argument in a restaurant and a tray fell on the floor. Within minutes the situation was peacefully resolved by Disney staff. However around the restaurant, words of shots fired spread quickly and people were running from the park for their lives saying shots had been fired.
When you are creating your plans for security think like a bad guy. Look for the weaknesses in your security. How would I get in? How could I do the most damage. Yes it's difficult, but it will lead you to find problems you need to adress.
And finally they encouraged people to not spend lots of time creating their own plans. Instead find a good emergency plan and modify it for your own use. The panelist from Yale shared their emergency response website http://emergency.yale.edu