Prepartion for Active Shooter Incidents

link to Here&Now radio piece on preparation by the general public for an active shooter incident.

quote from the Here&Now story on their website:

"These very concerns inspired the head of Boston University’s police force to tweet about a detailed, some would say disturbing, security video to more then 1,200 Twitter followers. The video was produced by the Houston, Tex. Mayor’s Office with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, and is meant as a survival guide in the event of an active shooter." video created by Ready Houston TX with funding from the US Department of Homeland Security.

There is a whole Youtube RunHideFight channel with preparation videos.

"Ready is a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters"(source) This FEMA-funded resource is also available in other common languages used by those living in the United States.

Q1) is this use of Twitter/social media effective?

PS: FEMA Think Tank is an effort by FEMA to gather thoughts not just from emergency management professionals and policy wonks, but also from regular citizens. There are monthly topical teleconferences to join and an idea board where you can submit new ideas and comment/vote on other people's ideas. Pretty cool!

The quick view is that this is a new model for grant development that has been nixed by Congress in favor of the existing top-down model. I'll need to follow up on this at a later time. FEMA and emergency prep are a little outside my scope, but I do have some experience and continuing interest. If anyone actually reads this post and wants to develop my assumption, please feel free to comment and share your insight.

current news items

Here are a few things on my mind lately:

• We lost a deputy in the line of duty earlier this week. The community is feeling the loss with grief and pride.
• Since that event happened I've mentally reviewed many interactions with law enforcement officers.
• one question is to the effect CIT training/practice has on law enforcement attitudes toward behavioral health professionals. Experience points to a range from none to thinking a 40-hour class makes an officer a counselor.
• The role of technology in self-assessment and promoting mental health continue to advance. (link) "The National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2), designs and builds applications employing emerging technologies in support of psychological health and traumatic brain injury recovery in the military. Equally important is our work toward eradicating stigma that can deter Service Members from seeking help."
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