It seems straight forward. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT. It isn’t. Research is clear that the stress of an emergency situation will negatively impact the brains ability to process information and think clearly. The best way to combat this natural tendency is to plan ahead mentally and practice. When you are in campus spaces you frequent, think about the exits available to escape (RUN) if you know the shooter’s location and have a clear path. Where are the best places to barricade should it be better to HIDE? Thinking this through in advance trains your brain and allows you to draw on this information through the chaos. Better yet, do it. Muscle memory is a powerful tool to help you react in an emergency.
It is important to remember that responding to an active shooter is an individual decision making process. The campus will provide a general warning but only you will know what that means to your immediate situation. These situations develop and change so quickly that the information provided by UT ALERT could have changed by the time you receive it. In most cases a campus warning will mean to HIDE (barricade). It is best to RUN when you have personal knowledge of the shooter’s location, or you risk moving into danger.
If you have no choice but to fight, mentally prepare yourself to do whatever it takes to incapacitate the shooter.
Visit the safety website to learn more details about good barricade practices.