Active Shooter Emergency Plan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) required course development of an Active Shooter exercise and an Occupant Emergency Plan (OEP) for the Edward Zorinsky Federal Building. The best way to protect against the potentially harmful effects of both man-made incidents and natural disasters is to ensure that all building occupants know how to respond appropriately in an emergency. This level of protection typically involves pre-planning, training, and rehearsal.

Oak Grove Technologies’ USACE Readiness Support Center personnel were tasked to develop the training materials, video scenario and associated graphics for this USACE Active Shooter Table Top Exercise (TTX). Training materials were used to provide instruction to the Edward Zorinsky Federal Building occupants on specific actions they should take in the event an active shooter enters their building. Topics included how to respond and work with law enforcement when they arrive on the scene and tips on when to run, hide, and how to protect their selves, if required. The TTX also provided basic instruction on how to recognize potential workplace violence. 

Challenge:

The challenge of pre-planning phase was to develop the Occupant Emergency Organization (OEO) plan. The OEO was designed to teach designated employees their roles and responsibilities to ensure that building personnel are moved quickly to safety, that damage to property is minimized, and that proper authorities are immediately notified in the event of a localized emergency.

This type of training is conducted to ensure that all tenants understand the contents of the OEP and their individual specific roles and responsibilities. Rehearsals, and/or drills are conducted to provide the building occupants an opportunity to practice emergency procedures to ensure an appropriate response in the event a real active shooter emergency occurs.

Solution:

The list below describes the objectives that were met during the exercise:

• Described characteristics of an active shooter and potential workplace violence indicators.
• Stated the actions that need to be taken during an active shooter event.
• Specified how to perform lock down procedures.
• Listed actions to take when confronted with law enforcement officials.

Training materials created by Oak Grove Technologies to support this exercise were organized into a situation pamphlet, brochure, Occupant Emergency Plan, and a scenario-based video.

CLIENT:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

MARKET:

Department of Defense

NATURE OF WORK:

Facilitated Collaborative Learning

RESULTS:

The OEP is a highly organized and thorough procedure of how the building occupants need to respond in the event of an active shooter situation. The OEP was developed to apply to all employees, support contractors, and visitors occupying the Edward Zorinsky Federal building and assumes a localized emergency in which the facility is impacted in part or in whole.