Supporting Non-Profit Health Care Facilities - Ohio This Time!

I had the opportunity today to personally pack and ship a large order of Vigilant PPS-8G alarms to a large not-for-profit health care provider in Ohio today.  Multiple hospitals are serviced within their system, and we are thankful for the opportunity to help equip their team with devices that will better ensure their staff and their client's protection and summon attention in an emergency situation.  It is amazing to think about the wide reach of Vigilant alarms both domestically and internationally,  and the people we will never meet that will be serviced by our products.  Our thoughts and prayers go with every alarm that we ship.  

Applying the OODA Loop - Learning From the Survivors of the Aurora, CO Massacre

On Friday, July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside of a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.

Initially, few in the audience considered the masked figure a threat. He appeared to be wearing a costume, like other audience members who had dressed up for the screening. Some believed that the gunman was playing a prank, while others thought that he was part of a special effects installation set up for the film's premiere as a publicity stunt by the studio or theater management.  It was also said that the gunman threw two canisters emitting a gas or smoke, partially obscuring the audience members' vision, making their throats and skin itch, and causing eye irritation.  He then fired a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience.

What can we learn from the survivors of the Aurora, Colorado massacre?

 

Decide (The third phase of the OODA Loop).

On November 13th, 2012 and November 19, 2012, I blogged about the first step in the OODA loop, which is to observe.  On March 9, 2013 the blog covered the second step of the loop, which is to orient.  At some point, I will reorganize the links so this information is all together.

We're talking about an action strategy developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd.
Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

So by now, you have made an observation, and oriented your mind to circumstances that were different than what was expected.  The third step of the OODA Loop is to decide.  You are going to consider action (or inaction) options, and select a course of action.  Human reaction time is defined as the time elapsing between the onset of a stimulus and the onset of a response to that stimulus.  You have to make a decision.  If you go through the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act) faster than your opponent, you have the strategic advantage and are positioned to win any given incursion. 

It's worth noting that your decision doesn't have to be perfect.  It simply has to be more swift and decisive than the opponent.  You can respond to changing situations as you go.  By nature of the discussion, the process is a LOOP.  You have the ability to correct action on the second pass through the LOOP.  Once you have acted you are committed to the action until you observe a new threat or situation.  Your action could be successful, or afterwards it might require more action at which time you must reenter the loop at the beginning.   What's critical is that you select a path and move rapidly to the action phase.

The speed at which you get through the loop can give you a tactical edge.  The objective is to get through the loop faster than your adversary.  In an ideal situation you can deal with a threat before your opponent has even realized he is in a confrontational situation and entered his own OODA loop.  If not, and the enemy has time to react, then you have to “get inside” his loop.  This means that you need to be performing the loop faster than he can.

 So... we decide.  We intentionally pick a course of action based on the observation and orientation.  We take a split second inventory of our preparedness, the tools or options available to us, and we decide.  We force ourselves to move quickly to the final step of the loop --- action.

 



   

Living out our mission statement.

Over the past week, our Vice President of Operations was working on our company mission statement.  What she has thus far is something along the lines of:

"We believe that everyone has the right to be safe, no matter what the circumstances are. We produce products to assist people to be secure in their ability to protect themselves. Safety doesn’t happen by accident."

So, when the opportunity presents itself to come alongside a non-profit organization in California whose emphasis is providing mental health services to low income children and their families, we get to live out our mission statement in practice rather than in theory. 

In addition to the alarms that will be used by staff (and maybe volunteers?), we will be sending some additional products along for the kids our new client interfaces with.  We are thankful for this chance to make a difference!

Vigilant alarms were one of the "Top Sellers" on Amazon.com in 2012!

We received an award from Amazon today for being a top selling brand in 2012 with an A+ rating for customer satisfaction.

Orient (The second phase of the OODA Loop).

On November 13th, 2012 and November 19, 2012, I blogged about the first step in the OODA loop, which is to observe.  Sorry for the gap inbetween steps, but life happens.  At some point, I will reorganize the links so this information is all together.

We're talking about an action strategy developed by USAF Colonel John Boyd.  
Observe ---->  Orient ---->  Decide ----> Act

After you have made an observation of your surroundings, you want to quickly orient.  Boyd spoke of the orient step as being the most crucial, as this is shapes how we observe, how we decide, and how we act.  In orientation, we use the information we observed to form a mental image of the circumstances --- we synthesize the data into information. As more information is received, you "deconstruct" old images and then "create" new images.  

You may have walked into a convenience store 100 times before, but this time you observe differences.  A panicked look on the face of the retail clerk.  A man with a hood in the back corner of the store.  A second man fixated on the clerk.  Your orientation is indicating to you that there is a break in the pattern you were expecting.  You are decoding this data intake, and turning it into information.  This is no longer an ordinary visit to the convenience store.  Orientating to the new circumstances, you are constructing a new picture of the scene you are encountering.    

Note that different people require different levels of details to perceive an event. Often, we imply that the reason people cannot make good decisions, is that people are bad decisions makers — sort of like saying that the reason some people cannot drive is that they are bad drivers. However, the real reason most people make bad decisions is that they often fail to place the information that we do have into its proper context. This is where "Orientation" comes in. Orientation emphasizes the context in which events occur, so that we may facilitate our decisions and actions. Orientation helps to turn information into knowledge. And knowledge, not information, is the real predictor of making good decisions.
      

Vigilant Alarms --- Now Helping "Secure" Correctional Facilities

We are thankful to have been selected by a large correctional institution (location withheld) to be able to equip their staff, volunteers and visitors with personal alarms. 

It seems that each new day we have an opportunity to impact lives. One of the best parts of this company is knowing that our products help people increase vigilance, boost confidence, and avert emergencies.

Thanks to our new "customer" for this chance to come along side you and make a difference.