Two New Training Programs Available from FSF on Responding to Active Shooter Incidents
September 8, 2014
The Firefighters Support Foundation’s (FSF) two newest training programs are now available — Active Shooter: Rapid Response and Treatment Model, Operational Detail and Rapid Response and Treatment Model – the Ten Top Questions. Both provide more insight on the Rapid Response and Treatment Model (R2TM).
The two new courses are a follow-up to last year's introductory course, Active Shooter Response: The Rapid Response & Treatment Model. Developed and de-bugged in several large-scale simulations, the Hillsboro, OR-developed R2TM is the only practical model to address the main concern at most active shooter events: getting the wounded to definitive care as soon as possible.
The R2TM model does not require large outlays of money for new equipment and does not entail any significant training in extra skills or cross-training for police, fire, or EMS. FSF believes that the R2TM model will be the standard active shooter response model nation-wide in a few years.
The conceptual foundation for the R2TM is that the shooter is usually dead or kills himself when law enforcement arrives on-scene. The main problem at most of these rapid mass murder scenes is getting aid to the wounded as fast as possible, without waiting for the “all clear,” while keeping EMS personnel safe. The R2TM borrows two easily implemented concepts from the military—the Forward Operating Base and the Casualty Collection Point — to accomplish this goal.
Active Shooter: Rapid Response and Treatment Model, Operational Detail is presented by R2TM model developers Sergeant Craig Allen of the Hillsboro police department and Engineer Jeff Gurske of the Hillsboro fire department. It consists of a 60-minute video presentation and an accompanying 26-slide PowerPoint. Viewers should watch the earlier introductory program first to get the most out of the new course.
Topics discussed in the course include the data-driven goals of fire and law enforcement, tactics for working in the "fog of war," the response timeline, law enforcement response priorities, the casualty collection point, and much more.
Rapid Response and Treatment Model – the Ten Top Questions is a 30-minute, 26-slide presentation answering the top ten questions that Sergeant Allan and Engineer Gurske get during the many calls they field every week. Questions answered include: Does law enforcement triage patients? How do law enforcement and fire/EMS work in the casualty collection point? Where does R2TM fit into ICS? What additional resources does R2TM require? How about small agencies?
The programs are free to all members of public safety and emergency management agencies. Simply go to www.ffsupport.org to download your copy.
About the Firefighters Support Foundation
The Firefighters Support Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to assisting firefighters, emergency management, EMS, and Search & Rescue personnel perform their jobs effectively and safely. A portion of our funds are also set aside to aid underfunded agencies and assist families of fallen firefighters.
