Is Your Restaurant Prepared: Active Shooter/Active Threat

This is not the kind of thing I usually write about, but sometimes something I'm privy to in the course of my business compels me to share things besides awesome pictures of food.
Today the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington held a seminar on preparation for Active Shooter/Active Threat scenarios.
It was hosted at Del Frisco's Double Eagle and was proctored by Bill Wright, leader of the Special Operations Division Emergency Response Team and Ready DC.
There was lively, interactive discussions about what has been learned in recent history about active shooter scenarios and what you can do to prepare your place of business for these events. Apart from that, there was discussion about safety in general and how to be safe while not wearing a tin-foil hat and crying yourself to sleep in your safe-room.
The key take-aways were as follows:

• Be aware of your surroundings
• If something looks or feels out of the ordinary, say something - 911 would rather you be wrong, but they want to know as quickly as possible just in case you're right
• Keep your doors locked, especially the back doors and loading docks (yeah, it's a pain, but it may save you and your staff/guests
• Have a plan - know where your exits are
• Have a bug-out kit

Lastly, if something does happen, you've got three options:

1. Run
2. Hide
3. Fight

If you have to fight, remember what you're fighting for: To get home to your loved ones.