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A Hot Wash is a term used for the immediate after-action review conducted after exercises (usually performed at functional or full-scale exercises, but can be done on any type of exercise) and real-world incidents. The term comes from the haz-mat (hazardous-materials) responder world, where the immediacy of decontamination is needed, due to being “hot” (having bad stuff still on you). The time to make corrective action is now – or at least identify where there are strengths and opportunities (positives and negatives). Once these items are identified as changes needed to be made to the Plans, Organization (staffing pattern and levels), Equipment, Training, and (future) Exercises – the POETE – they should be organized into four categories:
Sustain – longer-term strengths which should be continued
Quick Fix – short-term opportunities which have little or low cost to implement
Improve – medium to longer-term opportunities which have a higher cost to implement
Parking Lot – those strengths and/or opportunities which need further discussion – and POETE, and are beyond the scope of this incident and/or exercise.
CNA, a research organization in Arlington, VA. has an Active Shooter Exercise Kit, designed to help guide law enforcement agencies on how to plan, conduct, and evaluate a tabletop exercise for responding to an active shooter incident on U.S. military installations and identify actions for improvement.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The following photo shows what can happen when well-meaning people send unsolicited items to a disaster site. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, large piles of used clothing, shoes, food, and household goods sent to Port-au-Prince went unclaimed and began spoiling, attracting rats and other vermin. Not only did these become a health hazard for aid workers and people living nearby, they also clogged up the runway used for relief flights. In the end, these piles of goodwill had to be bulldozed off the airstrip and burned as garbage.
Diversion of Time and Space
For many people, donating stuff feels good because they are giving tangible items that one might give to a friend in need. But unsolicited items can clog supply chains and disrupt disaster operations by taking up valuable space needed by aid groups to receive and distribute critical relief supplies. Managing these donations diverts aid workers’ time and attention from the task of providing life-saving aid. Also, managing piles of unsolicited items can force aid groups to change logistical and distribution plans, adding more work and cost to their humanitarian mission.
Inappropriate Donations
Chandeliers to Rwanda. Fertility drugs to Haiti. As the illustration shows, donations of food and clothing can be unnecessary, culturally/religiously inappropriate, and in some cases, downright unhealthy. Donations of canned goods or food are rarely beneficial, and the collection of bottled water is highly inefficient, as both food and potable water can be purchased at local markets close to the disaster area. In addition, used clothing frequently goes unused. In fact, 38 countries have banned the importation of used clothing, and 28 additional countries have severely restricted imports.
Transportation: Costly and Complicated
Unsolicited donations are expensive to send. They incur more costs every time they change hands and leave a big carbon footprint in their wake. Transporting “stuff” to a disaster site is far more costly and complicated than slapping a stamp on a care package. How costly? Check out our Greatest Good Donations Calculator. What you will learn may surprise you.
A common misconception is that the U.S. government or relief agencies will transport donations free of charge, or even for a fee. This is not true. Individuals or organizations that collect and send donated items are responsible for paying for transportation and related expenses – including customs fees – at commercial rates. Therefore, it is important that transportation arrangements are secured before any kind of material donations are collected.
Things to Consider
Before collecting material donations, you should consider the following things. Otherwise, your donation may end up burdening the relief effort it seeks to support:
Has a credible relief organization identified a need for the items being requested?
Is an organization prepared to receive, manage, and distribute the items you’re sending?
Have the costs of transportation, shipping, warehousing and distribution been calculated and covered?
Who is handling customs tariffs, fees and other cross-border requirements?
Have quality assurance requirements from the host government been met?
From the New Jersey Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (www.njvoad.org).
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has developed the COVID-19 Recovery CISA Tabletop Exercise Package (CTEP) to assist private sector stakeholders and critical infrastructure owners and operators in assessing short-term, intermediate, and long-term recovery and business continuity plans related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Approved by the White House Task Force, and with input from the Federal interagency, this CTEP also provides organizations the opportunity to discuss how ongoing recovery efforts would be impacted by concurrent response operations to a potential “second wave” of global pandemic infections.
Three words you never want to hear in a row – but ones you need to plan forwell in advance. We believe the phase “Lockdown” should be a universal call to action – which has different actions, depending on where you are and where the threat is. Similar to a fire or chemical spill within (or near) a commercial high-rise office building, there may be some places where it is safer to shelter-in-place and some where it is safer to evacuate. But unlike those and any other threats – there may be a moment/place/time when you are confronted directly by the active assailant – with no where to run and no where to hide (apologies to Holland, Dozier and Holland) – and you will have to fight to defend your own life and maybe the lives of others.
A Lockdown should be different from a Lockout. A Lockout is when the Active Assailant is near your location, but not (yet!) a direct threat to you. When a building or a school goes on Lockout, it should mean that the threat is not on campus and no one goes in and no one comes out (except emergency services). Lockouts can become Lockdowns, when the threat does move to your building. This may happen very quickly – and if you can get the words “Lockdown, Lockdown, Lockdown” out over public address systems, text messages targeted to people in the building, etc. that will help (the more intelligence provided, the better – such has what the assailant(s) look like, weapons, which entrance they came in, etc.). We encourage the three calls of the word “Lockdown!” back to back, this way it is very distinctive, and in case someone missed hearing the word “Lockdown” the first time. And by the way, there is no reason not to keep announcing where the threat is – only if you are in a safe place to do so. Offsite security/law enforcement teams who have access to your public address system and/or text alert system can perform this as well. Note, we do recommend that cell phones be put on silent when you are ‘hiding’ in a safer location – and those folks should remain quiet to avoid directing the attacker to their location.
Think of this threat, like it’s radioactive. If you heard there was a briefcase full of radioactive material in the lobby of your building, you would want to get as far away from it, as quickly as possible. So, for two of the three actions (evacuation and sheltering in place) associated with a Lockdown, look to limit your time near the threat, increase the distance from the threat, and use shielding from the threat:
Run/Avoid – Add Time and Distance from the Threat
This is shorthand for evacuate away from the threat to a safer area until the situation is ended; and let your team or emergency responders know of your location and status. That includes a very important checklist point to “running/avoiding” away from an Active Assailant (or any other threat where you are evacuating): Accountability. Please let your supervisor, or emergency action team leader know where you are and your status (injured, not injured, etc.) when you have moved to someplace safer.
If your office, school, work location, etc. has emergency assembly areas – use them when you are evacuating – even for Active Assailant Attacks. At least that’s the plan. If you escape out the back of the building towards the Assembly Point, and see there are other attackers there – well, then go somewhere else! That may mean back into the building. Every Emergency Action Plan should have multiple emergency assembly areas/points – including contingency ones if the primary ones are unsafe. This is a key element to Crisis Action Planning.
Hide/Deny – Add a layer of Shielding, until you can Escape or the Threat is Ended
Also shorthand for finding a safer place to be, one that provides Cover at best and Concealment at a minimum.
Fight/Defend
This is the tough one. Not something we recommend for people under 18 (K12 schools probably use a different protective methodology for Response by the public to an active assailant attack, such as A.L.I.C.E.). Here’s a really good video from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which sums up “Run, Hide, Fight” (Note: some may find this video disturbing or uncomfortable, watch at your own discretion and liability):
What comes next: More elements of Response and Recovery
Police may still be searching the building, injured and wounded people need to be triaged, treated and possibly transported to hospitals. Investigations needs to start. There may be a friends and family reception center for people to meet up with people who evacuated from the scene. Media will be on-scene. And More.
