2020 was one of the deadliest years from violent incidents in the U.S. And so far, 2021 is following a similar trajectory. The increasing number of such incidents is alarming. With the increase in violence, it’s important to focus on one of the most vital aspects of minimizing the casualties: response time.
What Is Emergency Response Time?
As the name suggests, the term “response time” refers to how long it takes law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene after being notified. We have some good news about this: in recent years, the response time has been considerably reduced to about three minutes, according to the FBI.
However, it’s worth mentioning that response time starts flowing after the law enforcement authorities have been notified. Typically, they will arrive on scene 10-20 minutes after the shooting has begun. Most incidents are over by then.
That’s why we talk about both response time and notification time.
Emergency Response Time and Its Effect on Outcomes
A comprehensive study on US mass shootings and the impact of response time on outcomes found, unsurprisingly, that the faster law enforcement officers arrive on scene the more lives are saved.
During the first 4-5 minutes of an emergency, a significant positive correlation has been identified between emergency response time and victim mortality rate. In other words, the faster first responders can be on site, the fewer casualties there are likely to be.
What happens if your school, your church, your hospital, or your office building is the scene of an active shooter emergency? Someone has to take initiative and contact the authorities, according to the in-house emergency protocol.
That person could be a faculty member, a student, a minister, or simply a visitor. But before that person acts, some time passes. This amount of time is called tactical time—the time period in which people on site are frightened and frozen without doing anything.
Tactical time cuts into the notification time and prolongs the wait for the intervention of the authorities. This is why it’s crucial that every organization has clear emergency response protocols and, more importantly, more than one way to contact the authorities.
Ideally, everyone on-premises should know what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to behave, how they can contact law enforcement officers depending on the type of attack, and what information needs communicated to emergency responders.
In some situations, making an actual call to 911 can be dangerous—the attacker might hear you and things could get further out of control very fast. A physical panic button is handy, but it can sometimes be hard to reach. In workplace violence emergencies, for instance, if the attacker works in the building, odds are they know the exact location of panic buttons and already have a plan to prevent the others from reaching them.
This is why it’s ideal that as many people within your organization have access to a portable panic button, a way to quickly contact the authorities. We now all have a device on us at almost all times, which is why a mobile phone panic alert app is an ideal solution for speed and saving lives.
Speed up Notification and Response Times with Guard911
The only way to stop active shooter incidents and mass killings and to save as many lives as possible is to speed up law enforcement notification and response time. Guard911 was created with that precise goal in mind.
When simply calling 911 isn’t possible or isn’t enough, the Guard911 active shooter mobile app is the solution—it does so much more. The app integrates with the Hero911 Network of more than 65,000 law enforcement officers.
This means that, at a single button push, the app will call 911, alert the authorities, AND notify the nearest Hero911 officers, thus improving response time considerably. Hero911 officers in the vicinity are instantly notified and they can sometimes arrive on the scene much faster.
For your organization, this means extra protection, safety, and peace of mind. More importantly, it means the opportunity to save innocent lives.
Is your company, organization, school, or church looking for a way to reduce response time in the event of an active shooter emergency? Guard911 is the panic alert solution you’ve been looking for. Get in touch with our helpful team and we’ll be happy to help you increase the safety of your building. (618) 973-9174
