Reality Based Training: How can it prepare your team for success?

Reality Based Training: How can it prepare your team for success?

Whether in law enforcement or private security, situational awareness and proper training can be a matter of survival. Reality Based Training is the practice of using realistic props and effects in training exercises to simulate the real-life conditions that officers and private security contractors face in moments of crisis.

According to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, "Reality Based Training is a well-planned method of putting officers in the most realistic situations possible providing the conditioning, decision-making skills, and stress inoculation that saves lives in real-world scenarios."

Stress enormously affects our physiological, emotional, and cognitive responses and reactions. For officers responding to high-risk situations such as active shooter or bomb threats, appropriate stress response could be the difference between life and death. Reality Based Training aims to simulate these high-stress scenarios so that the responding officers can hone their decision-making processes, focusing on what they can control rather than being distracted by what they can't.

A K-9 explosives handler, for example, may find themselves at the scene of a public event where a bomb has just detonated, causing mass casualties. Another officer may find themselves pinned down by active shooter gunfire. These are very traumatic experiences that most of us (thankfully) will never find ourselves in. However, the survival of these officers and members of the public could depend on efficient and effective decision-making under stress.

Reality Based Training uses movie-quality props and effects to simulate these high-stress scenarios. Blank-firing guns loaded with blank ammunition, for example, can safely and effectively recreate the sounds, smells, and sensations of live gunfire. Actors armed with foam and rubber weapons such as a crowbar, hammer or baseball bat can be used to simulate a suspect or hostile members of the public. Stage blood and blood effects can be used to simulate scenes of destruction and carnage that officers may encounter when responding to an active shooter. The more familiar a responding officer is with these high-stress scenarios, the more effective their decision-making will be.

Here at Western Stage Props, we've been selling high-quality theatrical props and effects for film and television for over 30 years. We've launched our new website BlankAmmo.com to help law enforcement professionals find the products they need to conduct appropriate training exercises to keep their teams safe. Browse our selection today!
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