[2] Officers may be provided with additional body armour, including helmets and ballistic shields,[3] to be used at the crisis scene and not during regular duties.
The equipment must be easy to put on: excessive time spent gearing up may forestall a decisive intervention.
IARD is partially a response to murder–suicides where criminals attack large groups and then kill themselves when confronted by armed responders.
However, as many schools have developed lock-down protocols in the wake of incidents such as Columbine, the increased risk posed by IARD may become inappropriate in such cases where the venue itself has already contained the shooter's movements and reduced the number of exposed targets in their locked down posture.
All personnel are trained in basic tactical movement, and the medical personnel operate utilizing protocols derived from the TCCC protocols used by the United States military in war zones to enter in with a police escort just behind the initial contact teams and provide immediate treatment to patients.