Michael,
Our CCRC, with its Quaker roots, bans all firearms.
I'm the Chair of the Safety Advisory Committee here at Pennswood. As a practical matter, there are many more probable risks here than an active shooter. Among these, fire and weather emergencies are at the top of the list. Your community should have an emergency management plan and it should be available. Most of it will be devoted to the licensed care operations and the duties of staff in various emergencies. Independent residents are, well, INDEPENDENT. So they tend to think of safety education and drills as an interruption and annoyance.
In addition to fire alarm drills, you should have "shelter in place" drills for independent residents. The procedure to follow in a tornado alert is not greatly different than that for shooting incident. For a tornado, residents are told to stay away from windows, residents should lock doors and shelter, perhaps in a bathroom, until the all-clear is given. In the unlikely event of a shooter, the instruction would be to lock doors and shelter in place. So if residents are schooled in how to behave in a tornado, they can adapt to an intruder situation.
Preparation is mostly sensible strategy is education of residents, and practical training exercises for staff so that they provide appropriate leadership and instructions. Too often the drama of mass shootings is sensationalized in the media, and the perceived risk is high. The actual risk is not high. It's better to prepare for the more likely events and simply modify the directions given for the less likely events. You might end up with three: Fire Evacuation, Shelter in Place, and Hurricane Evacuation. Locale and other circumstances will dictate. If residents have a plan for each of those events your community will be ahead of most.
This is my opinion based on many years service as a volunteer firefighter and fire officer. I'd love to hear what others think.
Richmond Shreve
NaCCRA Board Member
Forum Moderator