A Standard for An Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) by NFPA 3000

As we watch the consistent stories of more and more violent events across the United States, it is vital that we all understand how to prepare for these types of situations. Even though rare, active shooter emergencies and other violent incidents can happen anywhere and at any time. This means that we all have to understand how to be prepared in case it happens to us. To address that need, NFPA® developed a new standard – NFPA 3000™, Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program.

The purpose of NFPA 3000™ is to identify the minimum program elements needed to organize, manage, and sustain an active shooter and/or hostile event response program and to reduce or eliminate the risks, effects, and impacts on an organization or community affected by these events.

According to the FBI, there were 345 active shooter events between 2000 and 2020 resulting in 2,831 casualties, excluding the shooter.  The NFPA document addresses the following areas as they relate to active shooter safety planning:

• Planning
• Assessing risks
• Developing community-wide programs
• Responding
• Establishing competencies
• Communicating to all stakeholders
• Recovering
• Planning recovery efforts
• Taking into account healthcare and mental health issues

The 56-page document approaches each section of learning by addressing communities, unified command, response, and recovery. All of these areas should be addressed and included in an emergency response plan. The information contained in the program can help:

• Policymakers
• Facility Managers
• First Responders
• The General Public

The program is for all people associated with safety planning for any school or organization and develops a roadmap to bring all safety stakeholders together in order to develop the most robust safety plan should an active shooter event occur.

For free access to the complete and most current version of all NFPA documents, click here. To download the NFPA ASHER Program Fact Sheet click here.

 At ASR, we feel it is vitally important for everyone to be aware of existing safety standards available. As people enter into response planning, it is vital to know, understand, and consider these accepted (and publically available) standards so that any subsequent organizational planning can align. In doing so, an organization can feel confident that planning is incorporating best practices and establishing robust and professionally guided policies and procedures. In this manner, organizations can prepare for the best possible outcomes should tragedy strike.

ASR Alert Systems is a patented state-of-the-art critical incident response technology specializing in the field of alert notifications to Law Enforcement and First Responders in the event of an active shooter or other crisis. Our technology can be customized to any industry, building, or event. We deliver customer-specific technology unmatched by anyone.  We offer free demonstrations to any organization looking to implement life-saving threat alert solutions for a variety of potential organizational emergencies.