Fight or Flight

Freeze response: This response involves holding as still as possible while the danger or perceived danger is present. For example, opossums and other animals are known for “playing dead” when threatened.

Fight response: This response involves aggression toward the danger or perceived danger. For example, someone threatened by another person may become physically defensive and attack or punch that person.

Flight response: This response, also known as the flee response, involves avoiding danger or perceived danger by running, driving, or moving in a different direction. For example, a person may run out of a burning building and keep running until they are far away from it.

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Problem |

When Seconds Count, Police Are Minutes Away

Lockdown drills and safety cameras just don’t cut it when it comes to an active shooter situation.

Typically, there is 1–4-minute delay before calling 911.
In an active shooter incident, one person is shot every 10 seconds
An active shooter occurrence takes about 12.5 minutes
Police arrival at an emergency ranges from 3–15+ minutes

The Cooper Color Code

Developed by late Colonel Jeff Cooper USMC, Cooper’s Color Code is a system designed to correspond to the subject’s heart rate and delineate a person’s awareness into one of the distinct levels. More specifically, depending on the situation the subject is in and their level of awareness, the subject’s heart rate will align with one of the colors– ranging from white, yellow, orange, red, to black. This system allows us to become situationally aware.

The color code does not prioritize tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with one’s state of mind. By understanding how we process danger, we can use Cooper’s Color Code to train ourselves to be more aware and better prepared for threats.

WHITE

Unaware. Relaxed, comfortable or daydreaming.

YELLOW

Aware. No direct threat but aware of the environment.

ORANGE

Alert. Specific threat present – evaluate options. Run, hide orfight.

RED

Fight. The threat is now direct and immediate.

BLACK

Overwhelmed by fear, a person becomes unable to react

Green

Overwhelmed by fear, a person becomes unable to react.

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Run. Hide. Fight. Houston Police Video

How the fight or flight response informed the design of Go-to-Green?

In an active shooter incident, an attack at a hotel, or in any crowded location, with our senses limited from adrenaline and cortisol coursing through our bodies, the mass panic and our body primed for run, hide or fight – making that decision independently is a very difficult choice. If we don’t know the location of the assailant – how can we decide upon which course of action to take? The first thing we understood in approaching go-to-green is that we needed a means to identify and update the location of the shooter. Mobile phones are ubiquitous, but their use requires fine motor skills and would be difficult to use when running or in a panic.
The solution had to be intuitive and universal – it had to operate at the same level of instinct that drives the fight or flight response.

What happens to our bodies during the fight or flight response?

The fight or flight reaction is an automatic response – it will happen to everyone involved in a stressful situation, and it’s nothing to be afraid of or concerned about. By learning about what is happening in your body, and the phases of the fight or flight, the panic that you feel initially, can be managed.

When you are exposed to an extreme stress situation the body floods hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol which shunts blood flow to major muscle groups and alters other autonomic nervous functions. The surge of hormones has several quick effects on the body, we lose the ability to carry out actions that require fine motor skills, as our hands and fingers shake.

Our vision becomes a tunnel, and with the blood flow moved to the muscles, we are unable to concentrate or perform complex tasks – we’re capable only of using basic movements – gross motor skills – these are large scale movements that involve the torso, arms and legs to make whole body movements.

At the same time, our hearing closes off and in the tight spaces of a building, where the sound of a gunshot will echo in rooms, through hallways and with our senses already shortened, it will be almost impossible for the occupants to know where the shot came from.

The System FAQs

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