The active shooter training problem can be summed up in one word, specificity. Programs are rendered ineffective due to this fundamental strategic flaw. From the creation of the first active shooter training program through to present day, programs have been a copy and paste with new acronyms and synonyms. The non-existence of specificity is why lockdowns are ineffective once people are confronted by an active shooter. You may be thinking experts state lockdowns are effective. An example will bring clarity to the nuances that are in likeness to political answers. The tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook was ten days after my first son was born. I remember my postpartum wife in tears and already stating he cannot go to school. Lockdown was effective for those children not confronted by the active shooter who were hiding under desks, in closets, behind barricaded doors, to include if anyone had evacuated. Lockdown did not save the lives of anyone who was targeted by the active shooter. I dislike lip service and when leaders use semantics to state all is well when it is not. Semantics are a way for those who do not have answers to maintain self-preservation. 

First, it is important to note that anyone in the field of critical incident preparedness, emergency preparedness, and so on are trying to protect society. The complexity of protecting society from an armed ambush is more than difficult. From an evidentiary point of view this has been demonstrated countless times when experts are asked what can be done. The summation of the expert answers is nothing can be done. This if followed by statements that vary in order, however encompass run away if you can, hide and barricade yourself in, and fight as if your life depends on it. 

As in most occupations, specialties, and sports it comes down to fundamental simplicity. We all start at square one. At square one we are not knowledgeable and the task seems complex and confusing. As we peel the layers of complexity, simplicity rears its head. If you were to have a panel of experts in various fields answer what they found after the layers had been stripped away, all would state in their own way, it comes down to simple fundamentals. Expertise is in the details of knowing what to do, exactly how to do it, when to do it, why you are doing it, and the evidence to support unwavering confidence of enacting said fundamentals.  

So, how do you protect untrained and unarmed people from a planned ambush? Specificity. The exact words of the last paragraphs last sentence. Those solutions have eluded our best experts. How? First, untrained people have to be given a well-founded strategy from a close quarter battle point of view. A small percentage have this knowledge, however that small percentage are expertly trained operators who are armed. What is required is from the untrained and unarmed perspective. Second, untrained people have to be given a gross motor, intuitive, well-founded, high percentage self-defense strategy that does not require recurrent training and provided in one session. Many have expertise in self-defense, however not in the context just described, and they would fairly state is equivalent to no training. Third, untrained people have to be provided a strategy of surreptitious evasive movement to see danger before themselves being in danger. To include what to do if confronted with the active shooter in the process. Again, a small percentage of people understand evasive movement, however couple that with what to exactly do if confronted by an active shooter, provide this knowledge in one session without regular recurrent training, and this problem too has been without a solution. 

You are now getting the point. We could delve into further non-existent or deficient areas, however to be succinct here is a short list: Risk/vulnerability assessment specific to active shooter, consistent surveillance, fortification failure alarms, behavior detection training, rapport building, conflict resolution, reporting mechanisms with contingencies, active shooter location intelligence, specific EAP, active shooter notifications (much improvement needed here). Schools, companies, hospitals, etc, will state they have these in place. Let me be clear, they do not, and if you were to ask them to give you specifics they will answer you with generalizations and semantics to the unanswered areas I have mentioned. 

Active shooter training and critical incident preparedness are not just for schools, businesses, hospitals, and worship centers. A holistic and intuitive program will provide knowledge that empowers people for a multitude of dangers. The solutions would transfer to a home invasion situation, to a mall, to a festival, etc. 

The L.I.V.E. Program was developed by Matt Estridge. Matt married together several areas of experience to create an unprecedented holistic program to address critical incidents and gun violence. Matt describes the combinations of his experience and God led epiphanies to be the catalyst for this remarkable program. Near to Matt and his wife’s heart are special needs and handicapped persons. He is the father of a special needs child and his grandfather was blind. This intimate understanding led Matt to create specific solutions for handicapped and special need persons in critical incidents. Matt says the combination of his counter-terrorism agent and U.S. Department of Homeland Security lead active shooter instructor experience, specific overseas missions in the middle-east, thirty-two plus years of mixed martial arts, being mentored by tier-one special operations' personnel, and his intimate knowledge of unconventional close quarter battle; are eclectic skills and knowledge that are not likely to be passionately studied by one person. The L.I.V.E. Program was created by this diverse knowledge and experience. 

The L.I.V.E. Program staff are special operations veterans, counter-terrorism agents, and federal agents. Specialized in the areas of critical incidents, strategy, active shooter, risk/vulnerability assessments, tactics, team building, and behavior recognition. The L.I.V.E. staff holds the highest certifications in their areas of expertise. Most importantly, is their professional experience and motto of leading by action.

To learn more about The L.I.V.E. Program visit the website. If you are looking for Civilian Preparedness, self-defense, firearm safety, tactical training, travel safety, restraint escapes, anti-kidnapping, and more visit Tier One Tactics.