Community Emergencies 

We have seen a lot of community emergencies in the past years with active shooters, wildfires and citywide disasters. Emergencies are also found at the individual level when someone falls from a tree, a boat sinks or a person is lost in a winter storm. Emergencies are unique in the timeframe required to respond to get the best possible outcome. Responding too fast may lead to more issues but being too slow often results in a much worse outcome. 

When an emergency happens communities sprint into action to support first responder or provide direct assistance when first responders are not available. Post emergency volunteers are critical to the recovery phase of cleanup, mental and emotional support and rebuilding. Organizations like Team Rubicon specialize in post emergency and disaster response, but any citizen can do the same. 

PubSafe supports first responders being first so calling 911 is always the first step. Even if you must respond first, knowing professional responders are in route may save lives. 

A great example is an active shooter situation. If a shooter is actively engaging innocent people there are only a few courses of action. Law enforcement has realized the quicker the response, the more lives are saved but what if law enforcement is 15 minutes away. What can an individual do to mitigate the risk?

Communication is key. Making everyone aware of the threat quickly enables people to make a decision best for their circumstances. The PubSafe app provides an active shooter alert function that can notify people in a business complete, sports stadium or church in just seconds through their smart phone. In a small community with only a Sheriff covering the entire county, it may be 20 minutes for an officer to respond. In this situation citizens have to respond differently than in a large city environment with police nearby. An aggressive response as outline on page 4 of the Department of Homeland Security Active Shooter Response Guide is not limited to those in the direct line of fire. A strong community response from former military or LEO may be required. 

Note: PubSafe users that receive an active shooter alert from another PubSafe user are automatically set to “invisible” for 1 hour or until the user changes the visibility setting. Limits may apply to iOS due to Apple restrictions.

US Dept Of Homeland Security