Monday, October 30, 2006

Your plan of escape

OK in elementary school, most people have a fire safety week, where you learn about fires in your house, how to detect if you should leave your room, smoke inhalation, etc. etc. Often children are told that they should have a plan with their family in the event of a fire, including how to get out of the house, and where they should meet up. Most larger businesses have something like this in place as well.
But nobody ever comes up with a plan for a home invasion while you're home. Well, not normal people, anyway. Not what Lt. Col. Dave Grossman would call the sheep, they don't come up with this plan. They prefer to pretend the wolf isn't right around the corner.
LEO families are a bit different. Cops spend their careers training for worst case scenarios. A lot of them like to play first person shooter games. They probably enjoy paintball games immensely, or plan on going to the range on off-days. Several have past military careers. The ones that don't, often wish they did. And they plan for home invasions. They have already mapped out several different scenarios in their heads. They may have instructed their wives to escape. Or told them where to hide. Or told them how to act as back-up, if she is comfortable with guns. Of course, we fall into this third category.
I wonder how many cops have tactical plans for their entire house. How many have planned out how they'd approach each and every doorway, stairway, and open space. I'm not suggesting that these guys sit down one day after they move in, and write these things down. Merely that it's second nature to them.
We do have multiple plans previously discussed, of course. I know how I'd escape our bedroom. We try to keep the cell phones upstairs at night, in the event the power/phone was lost. I do not have a hiding place, because I'd either escape or fight. I know where the guns are kept, and how to use them. I've also had plans in mind for when I was alone at night, while J was on 3rd shift. Now that we've got a wee one on the way, we're going to have to invest in a gun safe. J and I have also discussed if we are both home, that I make sure to stay out of his way, pay attention to anything he says, and respond immediately.

Is this weird? I suppose so, but in the past he's brought home instructions along these lines that were distributed by his work, or that he received in training. I guess I'm curious how many other LEO families have a plan for when the wolf comes knocking...

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