Improving Active Shooter/ Hostile Event Response Best Practices and Recommendations for Integrating Law Enforcement, Fire, and EMS September 2015 Contents Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................5 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................7 Purpose of Report and Summit Background About This Report Findings and Recommended Best Practices ...................................................................................9 2 Acknowledgements The InterAgency Board (IAB) and its federal partners would like to thank the participants of the Active Shooter Summit held in Charlotte, NC, March 17–19, 2015. Participants gave their time and energy to the Summit and this report. Summit Participants: Edward Anderson, Seattle Police Department Mark Anderson, Bellevue (WA) Fire Department Christopher Baldini, Philadelphia Fire Department Edward Baldini, Philadelphia Police Department Kenneth Beatty, New York City Police Department Tony Biles, London (UK) Fire Brigade Pete Blair, Texas State University Steve Brochu, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Paul Brooks, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Health Affairs Michael Cerovski, City of Loveland (CO) Fire Department Thomas Chin, Los Angeles Police Department Mike Clumpner, Charlotte Fire Department Michael Contreras, Los Angeles Fire Department Peter Cox, London (UK) Fire Brigade John Curnutt, Texas State University Andrew Cutbill, London (UK) Fire Brigade Kent Davis, Charlotte Fire Department John Delaney, Arlington County (VA) Fire Department John Donohue, Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services System Jeff Dulin, InterAgency Board John Esposito, Fire Department, City of New York William Frazier, Philadelphia Police Department Tracy Frazzano, Montclair Police Department Wayne Freeman, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Scott Garman, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Health Affairs, Medical First Responder Coordination Branch Bill Godfrey, Texas State University Ryan Grothe, Denver Police Department Nathan Hiner, Arlington County (VA) Fire Department Evan Hannah, Clark County (NV) Fire Department; Southern Nevada Fire Operations Mark Kittelson, Clark County (NV) Fire Department; Southern Nevada Fire Operations Johnny Jennings, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Eric Klaas, City of Loveland Fire Department Denny Kinney, Federal Bureau of Investigation Mike Larson, Thompson Valley (CO) EMS James Manson, Denver Health and Hospital Authority Joel Martin, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Phil Metzler, City of Loveland (CO) Police Department 3 Ray Mollers, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Health Affairs, Medical First Responder Coordination Branch Brent Newbanks, City of Loveland (CO) Police Department Sean Newman, Fire Department, City of New York Terry Nichols, Texas State University Bradley Nielson, Los Angeles Police Department Joshua Pearson, Seattle Fire Department Patrick Phelan, Denver Police Department James Robinson, Denver Health and Hospital Authority Daniel Schultz, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Infrastructure Protection, Emergency Services James Schwartz, Arlington County (VA) Fire Department Geoff Shapiro, George Washington University Jason Shelton, Los Angeles Fire Department Winton Singletary, Philadelphia Police Department Reed Smith, Arlington County (VA) Fire Department Shannon Sovndal, Denver Health Medical Center Thomas Traynor, New York City Police Department Steven Townsend, Carrollton Fire Rescue Coerte Voorhes, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Summit Support Staff: J. J. Knight, IAB Program Office Kelly Loyko, IAB Program Office Daneen Matheson, IAB Program Office Andrew Walker, IAB Program Office 4 Executive Summary Active shooter/hostile events (ASHEs) have been increasing in frequency and severity since 2000 (Blair & Schweit, 2014). Unlike many other types of incidents, an ASHE will almost always result in the deployment of all first responder disciplines. In this environment, with multiple disciplines responding, a fully integrated incident response system is required with all first responder components working in concert. Historically, law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel have viewed their first responder roles as independent of each other. As a result, the first responder community may not be prepared to function as one team to rapidly neutralize threats and save lives. To further the goal of helping agencies better prepare a fully integrated, seamless ASHE response, an Active Shooter Summit was convened by the InterAgency Board (IAB) in Charlotte, NC, March 17–19, 2015, to share lessons learned and identify best practices for an integrated ASHE response. Participants included law enforcement, fire, and EMS responders from municipalities in the United States and United Kingdom, several state and federal agencies, and Texas State University. Following presentations by each participating municipality and agency on their ASHE experience and planning, Summit participants representing the three disciplines worked together in five focus areas—(1) policy, (2) planning, (3) medical, rescue, and equipment, (4) training and exercises, and (5) incident command. These focus groups identified 29 discrete recommendations; this report condenses those recommendations into 10 broader best practices: 1. Ensure leadership prioritizes and supports the development and implementation of proactive ASHE-relevant joint policies, procedures, training, exercises, and equipment. 2. Integrate and improve coordinated pre-event law enforcement, fire, and EMS policy development, planning, training, and exercises. 3. Create and implement a common operating language. 4. Integrate and improve coordinated command and incident management across all responder disciplines. 5. Adopt the Rescue Task Force concept. 6. Employ Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC). 7. Implement Casualty Collection Points (CCP). 8. Develop and communicate evidence-based guidelines for fire/EMS ballistic protective equipment (BPE). 9. Establish evidence-based guidelines and education for medical and rescue equipment. 10. Promote two-way public communication as an essential component for effective ASHE response. Fundamentally, these best practices encourage a better understanding of roles, capabilities, and core competencies among first responders and promote effective communication and coordination through integrated planning, training, exercises, response, and mitigation. As components of an integrated response, these 10 best practices can be adopted in part or in whole depending on agency resources and needs. In addition, many of these best practices have value in any type of emergency response and are not unique to an ASHE response. The IAB will continue to be a platform on this topic. This report will help guide future working meetings with the broader community engaged in planning for and responding to an ASHE incident, with the goal of preparing detailed, implementable guidelines for adoption at the local level. 5 Introduction Purpose of Report and Summit This report is intended to inform communities of the value and necessity of developing an integrated response to future ASHEs, with the long-term goal of influencing change in first responder ASHE response. The findings of this report were shaped by the March 2015 Active Shooter Summit’s two objectives. 1. Share ASHE lessons learned from participating municipalities and agencies and identify similarities and differences in response plans. 2. Develop specific recommendations for integrating law enforcement, fire, and EMS response based on best practices to include in Active Shooter Response Guidelines, which is being prepared by the IAB. Background Sanctioned by the Attorney General of the United States, the IAB was founded in 1998 by the Department of Defense's Consequence Management Program Integration Office and the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation Weapons of Mass Destruction Countermeasures. The mission of the IAB is to strengthen the Nation's ability to prepare for and respond safely and effectively to emergencies, disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high- yield explosive (CBRNE) incidents. The IAB accomplishes this by: Emphasizing interoperability, compatibility, and standardization Fostering a multidisciplinary perspective Facilitating effective intergovernmental partnerships Being a credible voice of the responder community Being proactive Sharing field operational experiences and practices Within this context, the IAB’s Enhanced Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Service Integrated Response Capabilities Special Project Group prepared a white paper for the Active Shooter Summit held in Charlotte, NC, March 17–19 (http://www.interagencyboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/Integrating%20LE_Fire_EMS %20during%20HTV_FINAL.pdf). The initial draft of this white paper focused on how to develop integration and coordination between first responder agencies in advance of an ASHE and helped inform Summit participants. The Summit drew upon law enforcement, fire, and EMS expertise from municipalities in the United States and United Kingdom, several state and