Today for our regular Friday Factoid segment we will be using two real life scenarios to attempt to demonstrate how any situation can find it's way on your property and the importance of testing your plan. Why do we site these examples? Because they both happened this week!

You never know what will come onto your campus, nor can you control it. Have a plan in place to deal with situations as they arise. Your biggest exposure is failing to plan.  The following article shows how something that may have been a domestic incident carried itself onto campus where 2 employees were stabbed in the parking lot. Then the perpetrator ran. The school locked down. Do you have a plan or procedure for doing this?
Check out this story.

In this article/video we have a real world testimonial as to the importance of testing you emergency plan to find your vulnerabilities. Do not wait until tragedy strikes to find the holes in your plan. This Hospital in South Dakota has the correct approach to developing a sound plan.
Here is a Hospital that understands their role in preparedness.

Please feel free to contact Invictus Consulting LLC for questions regarding your Emergency Plan.

I copy the following article about a bomb threat at a college where the notification system went horribly wrong to show the importance of testing your system.  This is not to try and “Monday Morning Quarterback” the College of Charleston’s response, rather it is the opposite. The lessons that institution learned are more valuable than anyone can imagine. The main lesson is to always test your system. Then test it again and again and again.

Check out the Article Here: College of Charleston

First off we can all be thankful that this was a bomb threat where no actual device was involved nor any violence or casualties were occurred.

Secondly, the incident allows for a demonstration of the large cracks in the emergency plan at an institution that considered itself prepared with procedures in place.  It took almost half an hour between the time the bomb threat was received and the students and faculty were notified.  If this was an active shooter situation, by the time everyone was notified the event would have been over and lives lost. Typically active shooter events last from 5-15 minutes.

How prepared is your school or organization? Do you have a plan in place? Have you stress tested the plan? If not, why? We do not suggest having a plan on paper and figuring it will work itself out when the time arrives. That is not a successful plan.  Also, if you do have a plan, we at Invictus Consulting strongly suggest you get a set of professional third-party eyes on the process. This is where I will pitch the services of our firm Invictus Consulting. 

We at Invictus Consulting LLC would like to thank the LA County Sheriff's Department for being forward thinking enough to produce this active shooter training video. When discussing these scenarios with potential clients it is difficult to paint the picture for them. As the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words."  We feel this video is worth far more than that.

Watch the video below and educate yourself and others on this situation. We drill for fire emergencies. We drill for dangerous weather. Why do you not drill for an active shooter? All scenarios have a low statistical chance of happening to you, but do not let that stop you from being prepared.

We are constantly performing risk assessments and developing emergency plans for organizations and education institutions. If you are interested in making sure your facility is prepared please contact us!