Businesses can be as vulnerable to shooters as schools and other places.

Retired Marine sniper and small arms instructor Orvel Ronk told the West Metro Rotary Club about what businesses and organizations can do to protect clients and employees.

“Business owners need to focus on all phases of an active shooter event,” he said.

“There are many security measures you can take that are subtle, such as cameras, door locks, etc. Having a few visible security measures is good in that it does show that you are a harder target.

“Whether you use visible or non-visible, security should be dictated by type of business and clientele.

“All security measures and plans should be specifically tailored to each business.”

How should they train their people to prepare for the unthinkable?

“Often we think that proper training only involves response training,” he said.

“Training should involve all 3 phases of the active shooter event, to include prevention, response, and recovery. It should be tailored specifically to that individual organization.

• Prevention training includes how to recognize and report warning signs.

• Response training includes escape, evasion and how to counter attacks plus what to do when law enforcement arrives.

• Recovery training includes dealing with media, reconciliation, facility recovery, and trauma recovery.

Should something happen, what after-incident procedures should they adopt?

“Recovery should be addressed in their Security Plan, which should be written now, before an incident happens,” Ronk said.

The recovery plan should include reconciliation, dealing with the media, workmen’s compensation, medical bills and missed time by employees.

Ronk worked for the Department of Defense as a manager in security operations, anti-terrorism and contingency planning. He has conducted active shooter training for 8 years.

Contact him at Ronk Security at 803-722-4831.