Page 25 - TPA Journal January - February 2019

their families is done for every person evacuated from every room on an individual basis. There
is no such thing as a disorganized mass evacuation of victims into the common areas of a crime
scene. Alternatively, each occupant is tactically engaged, searched, identified and documented,
and relocated to either ambulance or witness staging areas, and the process repeated for every
evacuee taken from every room in the building. As one can imagine this process takes hours to
complete and is the only way everyone involved will be safely accounted for and all forms of
evidence protected. Get ready for a long day(s) if this occurs in your jurisdiction.

Mobilization of Intra and Interagency Assets - Physical assets at your disposal will be exhausted
rapidly and mobilization from other LE, fire/rescue, and medical units require pre-planned
memorandums of understanding (MOU). Mass transportation to witness staging areas and
repatriation hubs require similar MOU and your Joint Information System (JIS) will require
cooperation from mass media outlets to deter panic-stricken families from ascending on your
crime scene in droves. As mentioned above, this process takes a long time to accomplish, time
during which families will agonize over the possible loss of their loved ones and patience will
grow microscopically thin. Absent a well-orchestrated public information plan, your troops will
have to fight law abiding citizens starving for information. First responder staging is an absolute
necessity and we can all vividly recall several incidents where news media footage of assets
blocking ambulance egress routes and heavily armed LEO running up to crime scenes without
supervisory oversight, made us look disorganized and unprofessional on the evening news – for
days! The ability to systematically acquire, deploy, manage, and recover LE assets through Multi-
agency Coordination (MAC) is paramount to the success of active shooter/mass casualty response.
I cannot overstate the importance of dedicating time, financial, and human resources to becoming
experts in emergency management before the wolf comes knocking. Hope is not a plan and that’s
all you’ll have if great care isn’t taken to prepare every member of your agency to respond in a
timely and effective manner. These are but some of the things your agencies must understand and
deal with effectively when wolves pray on your sheep, and again, it doesn’t just happen because
you want it to.

As mentioned above, this article is designed to encourage you to step up your training and
developing of emergency response protocols for dealing with mass casualty incidents. Its’s just the
first step and I encourage each of you to expand your training efforts in this area. We hope to see
you soon and until then, watch your 6 and take great care of your families.

Your brother in arms,

Cris Andersen
Law Enforcement Division Development
U. S. Law Shield
CAndersen@TexasLawShield.com
(210) 275-2275

Jan./Feb. 2019 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • 866-997-8282 21