Vanderbilt University is not unlike universities and educational institutions across America who prepare for active shooter events via the national standard (DHS Run, Hide, Fight, or like programs). They all are doing there very best to prepare those in their charge.

There is a false sense of security that does exist in the current preparedness for active shooter events. Below you will read how two experts articulate our current state of preparedness, Mike Wood, and Jillian Peterson.

•Mike Wood, a tactical expert, has stated, Run, Hide, Fight is a victim mindset, and a workable plan must account for the first 5+ minutes before help arrives.

Active shooter programs and experts have not had an answer for the 5+ minutes. Experts have said nothing can be done or people have to defend themselves. How to defend themselves has never been explained. Why? Unarmed countermeasures, evade, and escape knowledge are unique skills.

More evidence of this harsh reality is corroborated by the below individuals and historical evidence cited by FBI and The Naval Post Graduate Institution.

⦁Psychologist and DOJ Active shooter researcher, Jillian Peterson has stated, “We have had twenty years to grieve, learn, to act, and to prevent, and yet, schools are no safer than they were twenty years ago.”
⦁60% of time, Law enforcement arrive after the active shooter incident has ended
⦁Average nationwide law enforcement response time is 20 minutes and active shooter incidents average 2-5 minutes
⦁Only one school resource officer has stopped an active shooter in the history of active shooter incidents
⦁The Texas Attorney General recently stated the only way to mitigate active shooter incidents is by education and people being able to defend themselves because law enforcement cannot be everywhere
⦁The FBI stated law enforcement can do nothing more from a preemptive point of view

If an institution cannot answer the following questions and by default follow the national active shooter standards, history will continue to repeat itself.

1.Does your plan educate individuals to utilize proven natural reaction techniques to defend against an active shooter when they enter the room you occupy?

2.Does your plan show individuals how to move through hallways, stairs, elevators, rooms, etc to evade and evacuate a building to safety?

3.Does your plan take into account special needs and handicapped individuals?

4.Does your plan work in concert with law enforcement by giving them immediate notification of an active shooter event and location information of the active shooter to enable faster response and officer safety?

5.Does your plan immediately notify individuals in close proximity to the active shooter?

6.Does your plan provide persons in your charge with life skills such as behavior recognition, conflict resolution, rapport building, and teamwork?

7.Does your plan have a multi-layered evacuation plan and reporting mechanisms?

8.Does your security element have the ability of single-person tactical response and multi-team tactical response?

The L.I.V.E. Program Answers:
1.The L.I.V.E. Program utilizes ten (10) proven battle strategies to defend against an attacker when they enter the room you occupy and instructs in detail the WHY, WHEN, HOW and the WHAT to do during an active shooter incident.

2.The L.I.V.E. Program shows individuals how to see danger areas ahead before entering hallways, stairs, elevators, and rooms in order to evade and evacuate the building to safety.

3.The L.I.V.E. Program takes into account special needs and handicapped individuals by utilizing the unique understanding and special knowledge of the creator of the L.I.V.E. Program, Matt Estridge.

4.The L.I.V.E. Program copyrighted threat assessment and EAP encompases specific-layers of security from the point of view of an assault on your facility and its occupants. Furthermore, detect, deter, immediately notify law enforcement of an active shooter, provide location information of the active shooter to law enforcement which provides faster response and officer safety. As well as utilizing the aforementioned strategies and strategies not mentioned in concert together in a manner that has not previously been established.

5.The L.I.V.E. Program copyrighted threat assessment and EAP encompases specific-layers of security from the point of view of an assault on your facility and its occupants. Furthermore, detect, deter, immediately notify your institution of an active shooter, and provide location information of the active shooter to your people.

6.The L.I.V.E. Program provides individuals with life skills via behavior recognition in an effort to detect the active shooter, conflict resolution and rapport building to mitigate conflict and deter an active shooter, and team work to live through being confronted with an active shooter.

7.The L.I.V.E. Program has a multi-layered evacuation plan with emergency service elements to ensure, if an area is compromised, your people know what to do and have assistance to avoid danger. The L.I.V.E. Program has multi-layered reporting mechanisms to ensure suspicious behavior is not overlooked.

8.The L.I.V.E. Program instructs single person tactical response up to multi-team tactical response to an active shooter (AKA close quarter battle (CQB). These strategies and techniques are combat proven and are derived from Combat Actions Group (DELTA Force), Israeli Mossad, and encompasses other tier 1 approaches to this unique type of CQB. This provides law enforcement the tactical advantage and faster response time to save lives (seconds saves lives), which currently may be substantially improved upon by our law enforcement/security community. FBI and Naval Post Graduate case studies of historical evidence demonstrate these areas of improvement.

As a father of two young boys, and one with special needs, Mr. Estridge intimately understands the challenges that accompany special needs and handicapped individuals, especially during an active shooter event.

The L.I.V.E. Program’s Expertise & Matt Estridge Abridged-Bio:
Matt Estridge – COO/Lead Instructor and Founder of the L.I.V.E. Programs, including the L.I.V.E. Active Shooter Training Program and the L.I.V.E. Principle (Lock, Instruct, Vantage Point, Engage). As a retired Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Law Enforcement Counter-Terrorism Agent, he had the distinct privilege of serving our country as the DHS Lead Active Shooter Countermeasures Instructor for the Washington D.C. field office and is a subject matter expert in active shooter countermeasures.

A few final points:
•It is time to save lives, and ego has no place in saving lives. If the L.I.V.E. Program can offer improvement in an existing program and potentially save lives, that knowledge should be welcomed.
•The L.I.V.E. Program is an unarmed program.
•The L.I.V.E. Program instructs life skills
•TN state representatives are behind and advocating for the L.I.V.E. Program- see our website theliveprogram.com/live
•We have national experts as references or our unprecedented solutions- see our web page
•The University of Tennessee implemented L.I.V.E. in a pilot program in July 2019. Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Gard provided a video testimonial (viewable on our web page) to our unprecedented practical solutions. Director Gard is a retired Marine with 23 years of service, and the Tennessee Emergency Preparedness Association President.

We do want your readers to know we have contacted the proper persons at Vanderbilt University to request an introduction to the program. We have not had response to our efforts to present.

Knowledge is the key to mitigating the loss of life in an active shooter situation. Our staff all served as Agents, Counter-Terror Agents, and Veteran Special Operations personnel. We served, we continue to serve, we are parents, we have unprecedented answers from unique experience, and the public deserves to know solutions to provide the very best chance to live do exist.

Respectfully,

The L.I.V.E. Team