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Difficulty measuring the effects of disaster preparedness has prevented a proper accounting of its benefits, says a paper published by the Institute of Medicine. "In principle, we could evaluate the effectiveness of an investment in preparedness with appropriate measures of outcomes such as response times, property saved, etc.," the paper (.pdf) says. But because emergencies are relatively rare and so different from each other, researchers rely on case studies or other qualitative methods, instead of empirical studies. The authors of the paper, dated Jan. 7, are two emergency medicine professors--Jesse Pines of George Washington University and Seth Seabury of the University of Southern California--and William Pilkington, the public health director for Cabarrus County, N.C.

An active shooter incident, where someone with a gun is actively attempting to kill or harm people in a confined area, merits the swift action of law enforcement. Such an event is typically over in less than 15 minutes, which means immediate and effective measures must be taken to prevent deaths.

Authorities evacuated hundreds of students in an orderly procession - a demonstration of aggressive security measures developed by police and schools following the chaotic 1999 shooting at Columbine, some 8 miles west of Arapahoe High. After that tragedy, police across the country developed "active shooter" training in which responding officers rush toward gunfire - and step over bodies and bleeding victims if necessary - to stop the gunman.

All commanders, starting at company level, are ordered to assess the command climate in their units within six months. The Army wants specific emphasis on handling sexual assaults. Army Directive 2013-29, issued Dec. 23, tells commanders to conduct command climate assessments using the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute Organizational Climate Survey. The DEOCS survey measures organizational, equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment/assault response and prevention issues.