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Expert skeptical of 'Run, Hide, Fight' training for active-shooter situations

Posted at 6:03 PM, Nov 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-29 10:45:06-05

CINCINNATI -- Run. Hide. Fight: Ohio State University students were told to do those three things Monday when campus police reported an "active shooter" on campus.

But a national expert said there's no evidence the popular training program works.

The concept is simple: Run if you can. If you can't, hide. If an attacker is right by you, fight. That training is a blueprint at campuses around the country, including Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati.

OSU's training video on how to respond to an active shooter focuses on "Run, Hide, Fight."

But Michael Dorn said the training program does poorly in testing across the country.

"We find that people trained in 'Run, Hide, Fight' training test worse than those with no training at all," Dorn said.

Campuses should invest more time, money and effort into the safest ways to evacuate small areas of the campus that could be controlled by a terrorist, such as hallways in a certain part of a building, Dorn said. More training for students and faculty would help, he said.

"We're very skeptical of these oversimplified approaches," he said.