A Las Vegas Hospital is under heavy criticism and could be fined for a misguided terrorism training exercise. In the scenario, unaware and panicked nurses, doctors and other employees were herded into a break room by an armed intruder, leaving critically ill patients unattended. The hospital’s COO told state investigators that the three employees who cooked up the exercise failed to tell administrators or anyone in the intensive care unit. Two of the employees involved in planning the drill were suspended and the security director was terminated.

STORY LINK: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/03/drill-left-staff-fearing-lives/

You see someone being taken hostage. Should you:

A) Assume it is a real event.

B) Assume it is an exercise.

C) Assume you are seeing a movie being made.

D) Assume you are next.

If you don’t know what is happening, you will react as in A) and D) above. Unless it was a real hostage situation, no good can come from that. Exercises need to be planned, vetted, coordinated, and communicated.