Active shooter
Below you’ll find out what to do if you encounter a shooting, how to recognize signs of danger and how to behave after the shooting.
Remember: Shooting = Run away – Hide – Fight
Before
Prevention:
• Sign up for any shooting course
• Contact the authorities immediately if you notice anything of concern (tel.112)
• Be careful of your surroundings and all possible dangers
Prepare a plan:
• Gather your family and design an emergency plan, make sure everyone knows what to do during the shooting
• If you’re witnessing a shooting, find the nearest exit and analyze the escape route
• Localize places to hide
During
Run away, if possible:
• Moving away from the shooter or shooters is a top priority
• Run away, if possible
• Leave your belongings and run away
• Help the others to escape, if possible. Evacuate regardless of whether they agree to follow you or not
• Alert and don’t allow anyone to approach the area where the shooting is taking place
• Once you are safe, call 112, describe the shooter, location and weapon
If you can’t escape, hide:
• Leave the shooter’s field of view and stay quiet
• Mute all electronic devices and make sure they don’t vibrate
• Protect yourself separately from others, not in a group, to complicate a shooter’s attack
• Your shelter should be outside the shooter’s vision and provide protection if the shots are fired at you
• While hiding, try to contact the police, use a text message or social media to mark your location, or put a sign in the window
• Do everything in an absolute silence
• Wait until the law enforcement authorities allow you to leave the site
Fighting as an absolute last resort:
• Once your life is in danger, start a determined and aggressive fight against the shooter
• Recruit others to ambush the shooter
• Use makeshift weapons such as chairs, fire extinguishers, scissors, books, etc.
• Act as effectively as possible to cause serious or fatal injury to the attacker
• Throw objects and improvise weapons to distract and disarm the shooter
After
• Keep your hands visible and empty
• Be aware of the fact that the priority of a law enforcement is to stop the shooting, you may be injured during their action
• Officers may be armed with rifles, shotguns or pistols. They may use a pepper spray or a tear gas to control the situation
• Officers will shout orders and may push people to the ground for their safety
• Follow the instructions of a law enforcement authorities and evacuate to a place where you came from, unless you were instructed otherwise
• Take care of yourself at first, then you can help the wounded before rescuers’ arrival
• If the victims are in danger, help them to ensure a safety
• While waiting for the health services’ arrival, provide a first aid. Apply direct pressure to the injured areas and use compression bands if you have been trained to do so
• Turn the wounded sideways if they are unconscious, and warm them up
• Consider using professional psychological support for yourself and your family to deal with the long-term effects of the trauma