Fight or Flight

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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

The Cooper Color Code system of awareness uses color to profile a person’s psychological condition dealing with a life-threatening situation. Developed by Lt. Col Jeff Cooper, Marine Corps retired, the system includes four colors that depict a person’s mental state during a dangerous event. These colors represent levels of awareness: White, Yellow, Orange, Red and Black. Each one describes a process and can enable a positive or negative outcome depending on the person’s reaction to the situation.

Black was added to the Cooper Color Code. It is also possible for someone to move along the Color Code, to go from white through yellow, orange and to red.

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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