Active Shooter Event 101: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate

Starting from the first letter of theDealing with critical incidents such as active shooter events is something no school hopes to do. Unfortunately, we live in a time when the number of school shootings is on the rise. With more active shooter events taking place all across the globe, it’s become apparent that the educational facilities along with their attendants ought to take active steps towards making schools the safe learning environments they were intended to be. One of those steps involves familiarizing students and staff with protocols such as ALICE.

These training programs aim to teach the proper response to critical situations such as school shootings, ultimately helping the participants mitigate risks and increase the survivability of such incidents. In this article, we’ll be looking at different options that ALICE training offers and explaining each one of them in detail.

 ALICE acronym, A stands for Alert, which is the first step a person participating in an active shooter event can take. When you first realize that you’re in danger, this is when you want to start actively responding to the situation. Because active shooter events tend to escalate rather quickly, it is vital that you react as quickly as possible.

These few seconds that you take to address the situation at hand and alert others about a potentially life-threatening situation can literally make a difference between life and death. The sooner you respond, the more likely you are to survive and help others as well.

L – Lockdown

The next step that you can take to maximize your chances of survival is to rely on lockdown. Instead of employing the traditional lockdown method that can potentially endanger the lives of building occupants, ALICE trainers advise using a more effective method.

This method involves barricading the door in a more effective way, properly using electronic and mobile devices during critical situations, and taking the time during lockdown to prepare yourself for the next step in case the intruder manages to enter the blocked entries. Although experts suggest that lockdown is the most preferable option in a plethora of scenarios, its effectiveness will largely depend on the situation at hand.

I - Inform

Other than alerting other building occupants about the danger, it’s also crucial to provide real-time information about the violent intruder and communicate it effectively, typically through video surveillance and 911 calls. Keep your delivery direct, precise, and clear, and include as many details as possible. This will give other building occupants as well as its employees plenty of time to figure out what steps they should take, be it safely evacuating, employing further lockdown measures, or preparing to use strategies such as Counter.

For those asking questions such as what does ALICE training stand for and is there a particular order of things that have to be done, it’s important to note that this program is designed to provide options in emergency situations. Rather than acting as a checklist of items to cross off, ALICE is there to remind people that they have choices. This can give them the confidence to respond to the incident more effectively, even if the situation at hand is critical and overwhelming.

C – Counter

What many people get wrong about this next step of ALICE drill is that it does not involve fighting the intruder. Instead, it encourages the creation of a dynamic environment that could help distract the armed intruder and therefore save lives. Through actions such as making noise, creating distractions, moving fast, and distancing, active shooter event participants can make it more difficult for the attacker to aim and shoot with accuracy. Not only that, but this step can also go a long way in ensuring more time for evacuation.

The key is to gain more control over a seemingly hopeless situation. Fighting is only seen as a last-ditch effort to survive the attack of a violent intruder, and should only be employed in a worst-case scenario when there are no other options left.

E - Evacuate

Finally, the last letter of the ALICE acronym refers to the process of evacuation of the building occupants where the active shooter event is taking place. Ideally, you’ll be able to evacuate immediately upon realizing that there’s danger. By escaping the danger zone and evacuating to a safe area, occupants won’t have to worry about having to use other steps taught in the ALICE program.

Still, the techniques learned during these programs can come in quite handy even during the evacuation process. Trainers of these programs teach everything from the most effective way to break a window to how to safely evacuate from higher floors and windows so you can remove yourself from the threat.

Enhancing confidence through the power of preparedness

Knowing what to do in the event of an active shooter is vital for maximizing survivability. By setting up an ALICE training, schools and educational institutions alike can ensure safety of the building occupants in case of such events. This, in turn, goes a long way in ensuring a safe environment for students and employees as well as enhancing their confidence by creating a sense of preparedness.