Security Systems News

FEB 2014

Security Systems News is a monthly business newspaper that reaches 25,100 security installers, product distributors, central stations, engineers & architects, and security consultants. Our editorial coverage focuses on breaking news in all major se

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seCurITy sysTeMs news february 2014 news www.securitysystemsnews.com 11 New training and tactics for frst responders Since the Columbine massacre, there's been a sea change in how frst responders operate By Leah Hoenen BRUNSWICK, Maine—In the years since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the tactical response to active shooters has "done a 180." When shots ring out, first responders are now trained to act immediately as opposed to waiting for backup. "The active shooter [situation] used to be that you'd hold and wait. Now, it's becoming that you go in and do a quick triage and minimize the threat and get things taken care of more rapidly," said Bill Guindon, director of the Maine Fire Service Institute, a department of Southern Maine Community College. "At Columbine, there was a lot of waiting, and a lot of unknowns," said Guindon. Coming to reside in Maine via Colorado, Guindon was among the first responders to the Columbine High School shooting along with Jay Ruoff, a divi- IHssF Continued from page 10 to help develop guidelines and best practices for health care and security professionals, said Nibbelink. "The foundation's primary goal is to support health care security leaders in the marketplace globally and part of that is doing research," said Nibbelink, who takes over for the outgoing president, Ed Stedman. "A hospital is a city and a world unto itself, with such a dynamic fow of people and things throughout the day," Nibbelink said. sion chief with the Littleton, Colo., Fire anywhere—Guindon said, the first quesand Rescue Department. Ruoff, who was tion emergency managers everywhere unavailable for comment, recently vis- must ask is, "If this were to happen in ited Maine to speak our community, how with more than 100 would we respond?" first responders and That means drill"The active shooter [situation] ing, communication, emergency managers about the latest used to be that you'd hold interoperability and, tactics to handle most imporand wait. Now, it's becoming perhaps fostering a such a horrific tantly, crime. The one-day that you go in and do a quick sense of teamwork event was held at among disparate triage and minimize the SMCC's Midcoast o rg a n i z a t i o n s , h e threat." campus, here. said. Since 1999, first —b. Guindon, Maine fire service Communities re s p o n d e r s h a v e must examine what Institute learned that the resources they have response to a shooter must be a quick and determine what resources will turn and decisive team effort, Guindon said. up if a shooting takes place in their jurisPreparation is key. dictions, he said. "The work before an incident occurs "Columbine had a lot of resources. is really critical," he said. [Many emergency personnel] came on When news breaks of a shooting— their own, which causes nightmares," he The challenge of health care security is to manage the fow of patients, visitors, staff and service people, creating a welcoming but secure environment, he said. IHSSF research provides data security professionals with research they can rely on when they explain why they need more staff, more security or more money for their efforts, said Nibbelink. Stedman said of Nibbelink: "He's a more than appropriate person to lead the foundation the next two years. We both believe in it and we strongly desire it to become successful in the future." ssn 7800 Series News poll said. "Knowing your capabilities before something occurs is one of the big ones." Preparing to confront an active shooter is an ongoing effort, he said. As Ruoff headed back to Colorado, news broke of a Dec. 13 shooting at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colo., not far from Columbine. "The message even became clearer when Littleton happened," Guindon said. "It was close. It was like hitting home again." Arapahoe student Karl Pierson, 18, walked into the high school armed with a pump-action shotgun, a machete and Molotov cocktails. He was seeking revenge against a librarian, police said, but randomly shot student Claire Davis, 17, and fired into school hallways as well. Pierson killed himself as a school resource officer moved in on him, according to news reports. Davis died days later. ssn criminals from the street and rely on the justice system to incarcerate them, Continued from page 4 maybe the crime rates lower and the the benefits they might reap, was pro- subscriber benefits." nounced, there was a contingent of To help advance its objectives, dissenting voices as well. PPVAR has placed an onus on form"The alarm industry has been ing partnerships with law enforcefocused for the last ment and the insurance 20 years on mitiindustry. But one reader gation of loss, not "If we shift our focus to opined that the collaboapprehension," the ration between PPVAR reader said. "If we apprehension, does the and law enforcement shift our focus to subscriber beneft?" could potentially cause apprehension, does friction. the subscriber benefit? If we remove "Standards are already in place and have been for several decades," the reader said. "They're called the 911 definitions and rules. The alarm industry will meet a lot of resistance from law enforcement if a private interest group tries to change 911 rules for self-serving purposes. Any technology or procedure that meets law enforcement rules should be allowed to compete in the marketplace." Another reader, in support of the standards, said best practices that result in written standards could help iron out some of the current wrinkles, while heading off problems down the road. "When a point on an alarm system goes off, which camera or cameras should be viewable?" asked Richard Kramer, security products account manager at Mountain West Distributors, based in Salt Lake City. "I have seen an instance where the customer could see a van parked outside his building [the intruders' van], but the monitoring center could not" because it was "not on his list." Kramer added: "And with IP taking more bandwidth, less cameras can be seen and police department's don't know how to react when they have verified response." ssn Touchscreen Keypad

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