RUN HIDE BARRICADE - new advice on what to do if caught in Paris style gunman attack

Posted: 19/11/2015

19 November 2015 - RPS Partnership

RPS Partnership has been running training courses for dealing with lone gunman and terrorist style attacks for the last 4 years. We have now developed a one day training package on how to deal with this type of incident for staff and travellers both in the UK and overseas, as well as security staff.

Contact us if you have any queries or would like to enquire to run these courses [email protected]

UK security chiefs have today issued new guidance on how to prepare for a Paris-style attack in Britain, with buildings put into lockdown and people told to run, hide and call the police. RPS outlines what has been reported in the Daily Mail.

Businesses are told to prepare for a 'fast moving incident such as a firearms or weapons attack', with plans in place to evacuate staff and stopping armed terrorists entering a site.

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office also released advice on how to behave in an attack, telling people to 'escape if you can' and if not barricade themselves in with their phones on silent.

RUN, HIDE, BARRICADE - PHONES ON SILENT

The new guidance was published by the British security services in the wake of the Paris atrocity in which 129 people died. Teams of ISIS gunmen spread out across the French capital, killing 15 people at a Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge and Le Carillon bar in the trendy Canal Saint-Martin area of the city.The same gunmen then went on to kill at least 19 people at a a Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne.Two suicide bombers also targeted the Stade de France where France were playing Germany, killing themselves and one other person.The escalation in the scale and complexity of ISIS attacks, targeting multiple venues at once where large numbers of people were enjoying a night out.

We still remember the recent gunmen incidents in the Westagate Shopping Mall in Nairobi as well as Garissa university in Kenya, the Bardo museum in Tunisia and Sousse beach, Tunisia.

It is time to start taking this threat seriously and RPS says BE PREPARED, STAY ALERT, STAY ALIVE.

The 'Stay Safe' advice issued by the government sets out what to in the event of a Paris-style attack and the way armed police officers will behave when they arrive on the scene.

The public is told to 'escape if you can' using the 'safest options'. But if there is not a safe route, they should hide to avoid 'exposing yourself to greater danger'/

When hiding, you should 'find cover from gunfire', with a warning that: 'If you can see the attacker, they may be able to see you.'

The advice adds: 'Cover from view does not mean you are safe, bullets go through glass, brick, wood and metal.

'Find cover from gunfire e.g. substantial brickwork / heavy reinforced walls. Be aware of your exits. Try not to get trapped. Be quiet, silence your phone. Lock / barricade yourself in. Move away from the door.'

When calling 999 the poilice will want to know where the suspects are, what they look like, what weapons they have and what injuries have been sustained.

Information on hostages will also prove vital to any rescue operation

In a blunt warning, the advice says armed police may 'point guns at you' and may be 'unable to distinguish you from the attacker'.

People should 'avoid sudden movements that may be considered a threat'.

It raises the prospect of innocent people getting caught up in a firefight between police and terrorists.

According to the National Counter Terrorism Security Office guidance, businesses and venues should 'develop procedures to dynamically lockdown their sites in response to a fast moving incident such as a firearms or weapons attack, either directly at the site or in the vicinity'.

Lockdown for businesses

'The aim of lockdown is to prevent people moving into danger areas and preventing or frustrating the attackers accessing a site (or part of). 'It is recognised that due to their nature some sites may not be able to physically achieve lockdown,' it added.

The UK government advice urges people to 'escape if you can'. Footage of the Bataclan siege showed a woman hanging from the second floor window of the theatre, while others ran for their lives into the street

Companies are urged to use 'visible' security measures including CCTV and secure areas to prevent an attack taking place.
'If preventing an attack has not been possible, the ability to frustrate and delay the attacker(s) during the course of the attack and reduce the number of potential casualties can be greatly increased through dynamic lockdown,' it adds.

It recommends increased staff training on how to go into lockdown and the ability to lock doors and gates.

It also says lifts should be able to be disabled without them automatically returning to the ground floor, giving terrorists a way to access other levels.

Contact RPS on [email protected] for more information on these types of courses. Click on the document below to see the advice offered by NaCTSO and the UK government.

Photo: RPS AK weapon.

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