Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
The Active Shooter
Incident
Rick C. Mathews
Contents
Preattack Emergency Management Activities..................................................... 319
Attack Response Emergency Management Activities .........................................323
Personal Actions When Confronting an Active Shooter.....................................325
Summary...........................................................................................................325
References .........................................................................................................326
Over the years, emergency managers have had to activate emergency operations
centers (EOC) for many different types of emergencies. Historically, these incidents
could be categorized into one of two major groups: those caused by nature and
those caused by accidents. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and snow storms are but three
types of incidents that are caused by nature. Train derailments, spilling hazardous
materials, and forest fires caused by an accidental spark are examples of emergency
events caused by accidents. During the past decade, however, emergency manag-
ers have had to begin devoting more time and resources planning EOC opera-
tions for a third type of emergency, those incidents related to high consequence
violent events, be they instigated by terrorists or others. The difference between
the two distinctions is essentially whether the attack is consistent with the defini-
tion of terrorism as defined by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Indeed, since
the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002,
significant resources have been provided for state and local jurisdictions to plan
and prepare for terrorist events. It is important to note, however, that even with
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