Situational Awareness – Part 2
Copyright 2009 by James M. Floyd, Jr. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
There are several components to situational awareness/assessment (SA/A), one of which we have already reviewed which is the color code system of mental conditioning.
An important point to always remember is that SA/A is about more than just being prepared for an attack. It is being perceptive of what is going on and how to react in all situations. For example, you and your significant other have just boarded an airliner to jet away on a much deserved vacation. SA/A is about reading the safety card in the seat pocket. SA/A is about watching and listening to the flight attendant safety briefing. SA/A is about counting and knowing how many seats it is from where you are sitting to the various aircraft exits. SA/A is about observing for people who are trying to ignite fuses in shoe bombs. In other words, SA/A is about being aware of your environment in the event of ANY emergency situation.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
When you walk into a building, what do you notice? Do you look for all of the exits? Do you look for fire extinguishers or AEDs on the wall? Do you see where the stairwells are in addition to the elevators? If not, you are not engaging in SA/A!
According to Amanda Ripley in her outstanding book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why, the implications of not having environmental awareness are deadly. For example, many people died in the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 because they did not know the stairwells existed, or where they went to… even though they worked in the skyscraper every day. Another example is that the people who survive aircraft accidents are usually those who actually paid attention to the safety briefing and had a plan to exit in advance.
Exits are important, but so are windows. What if a vehicle jumped a curb? Would you be in its path? If someone wanted to shoot into the building from the outside are you in a direct line of fire? Could you break and escape through a window in the event of a fire?
In the event of an active shooter scenario, where is cover and concealment? Which makes it time for a review. What is the difference between COVER and CONCEALMENT?
Merriam-Webster online defines cover as “to afford protection or security to”, while concealment is defined as “to place out of sight.”
The U.S. Army, as a part of physical security, utilizes the terms “low protection” (hiding) and “high protection” (hardening) to explain this concept.
There are appropriate times for using both cover and/or concealment. Concealment can be anything that is opaque and that obscures the assailant from seeing you. Cover is a different story. You need to understand what the construction material of a cover location is. For example, to stop a 9mm pistol round at least 2.5” of reinforced concrete or 5/16” of steel is required. Do the door frames or walls in your home meet standard? What about that low wall you are going to use for cover in a restaurant? If we change the caliber to 7.62 or 5.56 a minimum of 4” of reinforced concrete or 9/16” steel is required.
So, let’s try an exercise. You are sitting in this restaurant with this point of view.
Using this photograph, answer the following questions:
CONCLUSION
The more your practice, the better you get. So, the next time you go out, practice the same exercise in addition to your YELLOW state of mind observation skills drills as covered in part 1.
Until the next installment, stay safe and be aware!
Regards,
[FONT="]Jim[/FONT]
Copyright 2009 by James M. Floyd, Jr. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
There are several components to situational awareness/assessment (SA/A), one of which we have already reviewed which is the color code system of mental conditioning.
An important point to always remember is that SA/A is about more than just being prepared for an attack. It is being perceptive of what is going on and how to react in all situations. For example, you and your significant other have just boarded an airliner to jet away on a much deserved vacation. SA/A is about reading the safety card in the seat pocket. SA/A is about watching and listening to the flight attendant safety briefing. SA/A is about counting and knowing how many seats it is from where you are sitting to the various aircraft exits. SA/A is about observing for people who are trying to ignite fuses in shoe bombs. In other words, SA/A is about being aware of your environment in the event of ANY emergency situation.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
When you walk into a building, what do you notice? Do you look for all of the exits? Do you look for fire extinguishers or AEDs on the wall? Do you see where the stairwells are in addition to the elevators? If not, you are not engaging in SA/A!
According to Amanda Ripley in her outstanding book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why, the implications of not having environmental awareness are deadly. For example, many people died in the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 because they did not know the stairwells existed, or where they went to… even though they worked in the skyscraper every day. Another example is that the people who survive aircraft accidents are usually those who actually paid attention to the safety briefing and had a plan to exit in advance.
Exits are important, but so are windows. What if a vehicle jumped a curb? Would you be in its path? If someone wanted to shoot into the building from the outside are you in a direct line of fire? Could you break and escape through a window in the event of a fire?
In the event of an active shooter scenario, where is cover and concealment? Which makes it time for a review. What is the difference between COVER and CONCEALMENT?
Merriam-Webster online defines cover as “to afford protection or security to”, while concealment is defined as “to place out of sight.”
The U.S. Army, as a part of physical security, utilizes the terms “low protection” (hiding) and “high protection” (hardening) to explain this concept.
There are appropriate times for using both cover and/or concealment. Concealment can be anything that is opaque and that obscures the assailant from seeing you. Cover is a different story. You need to understand what the construction material of a cover location is. For example, to stop a 9mm pistol round at least 2.5” of reinforced concrete or 5/16” of steel is required. Do the door frames or walls in your home meet standard? What about that low wall you are going to use for cover in a restaurant? If we change the caliber to 7.62 or 5.56 a minimum of 4” of reinforced concrete or 9/16” steel is required.
So, let’s try an exercise. You are sitting in this restaurant with this point of view.
Using this photograph, answer the following questions:
- What is the environment?
- What are the potential hazards?
- What is your pre-plan for an active shooter situation?
- What is your pre-plan in the event of a fire?
- What are your concealment options?
- What are your cover options?
CONCLUSION
The more your practice, the better you get. So, the next time you go out, practice the same exercise in addition to your YELLOW state of mind observation skills drills as covered in part 1.
Until the next installment, stay safe and be aware!
Regards,
[FONT="]Jim[/FONT]
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