Active Shooter and Senior Living Risks

One area of emerging risk for many industries, including the long term care or senior living market, is active shooter risk. Not only are residents/patients at risk, but so are senior living facility employees.

“An active shooter event is something that no one wants to imagine happening in a senior living community, but the reality is that all places where people congregate, including senior living communities, are vulnerable,” said John Atkinson, managing partner, Senior Living practice, Willis Towers Watson. “This vulnerability calls for an increased need for preparedness,” he added.

In partnership with Sorensen, Wilder and Associates, Willis Towers Watson developed the Active Shooter/Armed Intruder Readiness Program. The program is designed to help senior living communities plan for, respond to and recover from active shooter events. Organizations can access the material for free online and customize it for their own use.

The materials include:

• Critical action steps training videos
• Sample policy and procedure for active shooter/armed intruder;
• Company and community readiness plan and checklist; and
• Webinar for active shooter awareness in a senior living community.

Atkinson said the program spawned from conversations with members of Argentum, a national trade association serving senior living communities. (See page 16 for more on the senior living market.)

“They started looking for resources on active shooter training and guidance specific to senior living communities, and there wasn’t any,” he said. “There’s a fair amount of information for schools and workplaces but we felt that senior living/long term care has unique exposures. We wanted to make sure that we had tools available to train staff and be prepared.”

The preparedness program was released in late September and has so far been popular, he said. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls about it.” Atkinson said that WTW and its supporting carrier partners are providing the training and video at no cost to the industry.

To access the preparedness program, visit: http://willis.com/Client_Solutions/Industries/Healthcare/SeniorLiving.