Last week, we broke down the first A of the three-A triangle, which can help you remember how to react in an active shooter situation. This week, we’re tackling the second A: accurate information.
Think about the last time you had give an important speech or difficult presentation to a room of people. If simply getting up in front of your friends or colleagues to give a speech induced an uncomfortable nervousness, imagine what being placed in actual danger will do to your mental response time and ability to gather accurate information.
According to this article your whole body is affected by fear and panic, in fact “the activation of the sympathetic nervous system leads to the release of norepinephrine from nerve endings acting on the heart, blood vessels, respiratory centers, and other sites.” Basically, panic not only inhibits your ability to react logically, it also changed your brain’s ability to perceive and retain important and accurate details.
An active shooter situation would create a fight-or-flight loop in your brain. That fight-or-flight response to a stressful situation is not at all conducive to the gathering of accurate information. When was the last time you were truly afraid or shaken up? Did you break out in a cold sweat? Did you find yourself unable to think straight? We are all human, and the negative symptoms we’ve mentioned are actually the product of survival instincts. But how are you supposed to gather accurate information with these fight-or-flight chemicals fighting for dominance in your head?
The answer is simple: take the task of information gathering completely out of human hands. ECT Services is happy to help with our Active Shooter Detection System: the system immediately recognizes and records the shooter and the sound of the weapon(s), alerts authorities, and makes it possible for you to focus entirely on personal safety. You can learn more about our Active Shooter Detection System here.
Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-show-chairs-gym-274/