Active Shooter: What Would Health Care Students Do While Caring for Their Patients? Run? Hide? Or Fight?

• Published in: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 173 - 177
• Main Authors: McKenzie, Nicole, Wishner, Carolina, Sexton, Martha, Saevig, Danielle, Fink, Brian, Rega, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cambridge University Press 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Adult; Altruism; Attitude of Health Personnel; Cross-Sectional Studies; Decision making; Disaster Planning - methods; Emergency preparedness; Female; Gun Violence - psychology; Health care; Health Personnel - education; Health Personnel - psychology; Humans; Male; Patients; Shootings; Statistical analysis; Students; Students - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Terrorism - psychology; mass casualty incidents; emergency preparedness; weapons; survival; violence
• ISSN: 1935-7893; 1938-744X
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2019.67

The aim of this study was to explore the clinical decisions that health care students would make if faced with an active shooter event while providing patient care. A cross-sectional study design was used to survey 245 students from 6 different professional programs. Participants read 4 case-based scenarios, selected 1 of 4 actions in a multiple-choice format, and responded to an open-ended question. Demographic questions asked whether participants had been a victim of violence and whether they have taken a certified active shooter course. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square testing. For each case, most students chose "patient-centric" versus "provider-centric" actions (range: 66%-94% and 4%-17%, respectively). The gender of the patient made no difference in actions. Those who attended a certified active shooter course tended to act with more "provider-centric" concerns than those who did not take such a course. A significant majority of interprofessional health care students, when presented with specific case-scenarios, declared they would act to protect themselves and their patients during an active shooter event. This "patient-centric" attitude transcends the oversimplified "Run-Hide-Fight" axiom and must be addressed by all health care educational institutions.