Transit Safety and Security Executive Briefing
Federal Transit Administration,
Office of Transit Safety and Security
400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590
http://www.fta.dot.gov

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Immediate Actions (IAs) for Transit Agencies for Potential and Actual Life-Threatening Incidents

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Purpose:  Immediate Actions (IAs) are suggested quick response procedures that may help prevent or mitigate a terrorist or violent criminal act.

“IAs for Transit Agencies” is an FTA guidance document intended to help transit agencies reinforce and improve how well their front line employees quickly react & respond to potential and actual life-threatening incidents.

Key Points:

• Transit agencies should consider using this IA guidance document to best meet their particular needs:
- transit agencies with established IA procedures and protocols may wish to compare their existing documents with the contents of this new IA guidance document;
- transit agencies without existing up-to-date IA procedures (including counter-terrorist activities) may wish to use this guidance to help develop new or updated IAs for their specific operation.

• IAs are Training Tools

Employee training is an absolutely basic requirement underlying the importance of IAs. Having the training and discipline to do the right things during the first few moments of a potential or actual crisis situation can empower transit employees to make a huge difference in saving lives. At the same time, effective training also teaches employees not to act in ways that could result in the employees becoming victims themselves.

Recognizing the critical need for transit employees to receive IAs training, FTA is working on integrating the IA guidance document concepts into its overall security awareness training core curriculum.

The next step in the training area is to include the IA guidance within FTA’s Passenger Monitoring Course – currently being finalized for testing at up to twenty transit agencies. Additional IA training may also be developed – either as a new module or added to the current security awareness curriculum – by the National Transit Institute (NTI) for FTA.
 

Source Document: Immediate Actions (IAs) for Transit Agencies for Potential and Actual Life-Threatening Incidents, Federal Transit Administration, Office of Safety and Security, 2004
 

Office of Safety and Security