Active Shooter Training in an Integrative Health Clinic

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the efficacy and impact of a didactic and hands-on active shooter simulated training on healthcare workers' knowledge and self-efficacy at a local integrative health clinic. Background: Active shooter incidents are unpredictable, evolve rapidly, and can strike anywhere, at any time. Institutions are particularly high-risk targets, with 160 active shooter incidents reported from 2000 through 2013, resulting in over 1,043 casualties. Healthcare environments pose unique challenges in an active shooter situation due to vulnerable patients, bio-hazardous materials, and specialized equipment. Hence, health care professionals must receive adequate instruction on responding to an active shooter incident in a way that best reduces the number of casualties. Method: This quality improvement project was conducted in a local integrative clinic attached to a Reserve Medical Unit, located on a military base in Arizona. The project was an outcome of a change proposal that used the Model for Implementation and the PDSA cycle. The design was a pretest-posttest didactic instruction and simulation activity. Results: Twenty members attended the training session. All participants completed all components of the intervention and survey. The results demonstrated an increase in the knowledge of the participants of active shooter incidents. It also showed an upsurge in perceived self-efficacy and preparedness among participants in handling future active shooter incidents. Conclusion: This project affirms that didactic and hands-on training can improve staff confidence and preparedness to protect self and safeguard others during an active shooter incident.