Post-Auto Accident Procedures

This is not the first time he’s done that! Click the pic for the full video

Whoooo boy are there a lot of lessons to pull out of this video.  First a word from our sponsors….Wait a minute, I don’t have any sponsors.  So, let’s just get to it.

Like most videos of this sort, we don’t see everything that happened before the incident, but there’s enough here to make some observations.  This is a classic “car problems” scenario.  When driving people frequently feel entitled, especially when they are tooling about in their prize possession.  Traffic signs?  Optional.  Common courtesy or a touch of grace?  Forget about it!  I have places to go NOW.  “Don’t you know who I am” Syndrome is a big thing in the Northern Virginia/DC area.  Not good attitudes to have when you’re interacting with society at 45+mph.

Preclusion
Both parties involved in this incident could have taken measures to have avoided this highly consequential outcome.  The off-duty officer could have sighed, tapped his brakes and let the other car in.  This may have delayed his arrival at his destination by 8 seconds or so. The other car could have signaled a lane change and slowed down a bit and worked his way over.  Yes, it would have meant that a little pride would have had to be swallowed, and grace granted.  A spoon full of sugar in the form of not killing someone helps that medicine go down.

After Accident Tactics, Techniques and Procedures
After a fender-bender or “rubbing is racing” incident of this nature both parties generally pull to the side to access damage, exchange information and await the eventual arrival of the police.  That is an opportunity for you to really assess the person interacting you’re with.  I am fond of saying that “movement is eloquent communication”, and if you see doors fly open and a party, or parties, immediately march towards you with an angry look on their face(s), well, that’s an indicator of a problem.  This would be an excellent time to unbuckle, pick up the phone, call 911…AND STAY IN THE CAR!  Hold up an INDEX (note the specificity there) finger while you’re talking to the dispatcher.  This indicates that you have called the authorities and will communicate further with them in just a minute.  STAY ON THE LINE and STAY IN THE CAR.  This may give the other party time to cool off a bit while keeping you more secure.  Keep the engine running and the car in gear and be prepared to leave the scene if things escalate.  Having to explain to the responding officers why you left the scene of an accident is infinitely preferable to having to invoke your 5th Amendment rights after a defensive shooting. 

Unfortunately, they have alternate courses of action, which would be to try to break your window to get at you, or just shoot you where you sit.   Being unbuckled at this point is crucial because you’re going to have to execute the seated draw stroke you’ve perfected, create space and shoot from that retention position you’ve been practicing.  (You have practiced this, right?)  Know the law in your state.  Some states extend the “Castle Doctrine” to vehicles, meaning that you’re fighting to protect your home, which is your vehicle at that moment.  Others aren’t so understanding. 

Keep your eyes on the REAL problem
If you do get out of the car, remain focused on the other party until they have revealed their intentions.  You can generally tell this by the look of despair and resignation that will be on their faces, as well as the proximity they attempt to establish with you.  This is NOT the time to look at how badly your vehicle was damaged.  Let the insurance adjustor do that. 

The off-duty officer in this case essentially ignored the real problem and went to check his fender.  That action took his eyes off the person that immediately became his assailant.  One moment he was looking at minor damage, the next he was pistol-whipped, the next, shooting at someone that had a gun in his hand.  Just. Like. That.  Watch the lamppost in the background.  See the bullet impact?  Do you see the bullet impact on the assailant’s car?  Performance under fire can easily degrade.  Unlike our firing line training, the target moved after being shot and then reappeared again around the front of the car, still willing to fight and determined to kill. 

Comfort with violence, an enormous disparity
Watching the video again in slow motion I can confidently say that is NOT the first time that man had employed the Greg Ellifritz approved technique for pistol whipping someone.   That is a significant gap…us normies don’t normally pistol whip people to express a little angst.  There are people out there with violence as their immediate default response to being a little peeved.  You just don’t know who you’re dealing with and getting a hard read on their emotional state can be difficult…but again in this case the tells were there.   Remember also that emotional states can be highly transitory.  One moment a person can seem to be calm and taking things in, the next you’re in a fight.  Maintain separation and an obstacle between you and them. 

Another indicator of what sort of man the off-duty officer was dealing with was how quickly he transitioned from pistol-whipping someone to putting his pistol back into his hoodie pouch and backing away, satisfied that his honor had been upheld.   He never took his eyes off the person he just assaulted and created space while returning his pistol to his hoody’s pouch.  He wasted no time getting his pistol back into play when he saw the officer’s gun.  There was no “orienting response” …he fully expected a counterassault in some form and wasn’t surprised at all to see a pistol aimed at him.  But the initiative had switched, and he was impacted by the officer’s first round, which drives home another lesson.  The winner in these circumstances is usually the one that lands the first, deep hit.    Finally, I will note again that he didn’t stop fighting after he had been shot.  He worked his way around the front of his car trying to get an angle, but the officer anticipated this move, and he was met by well-aimed shots that settled the issue.

Exchanging Information and The Little White Lie

After an accident it is routine for normal people to exchange information while waiting for the police.  Back in the day we used pieces of paper.  It’s true!  Now people pull up their insurance information on their phones and take pictures of licenses, etc.  Either way we need to take care when letting people get close enough to perform that task.  Maybe we should wait for the cops to show up first?  If you must exchange information, lay the documents/phone out on the hood of the car and take turns recording.  Keeping a vehicle between you and the other person puts an obstacle between the parties.  Remember that movement is eloquent communication. If they deliberately move around that obstacle they’re trying to establish proximity and that may reveal their true intent.

How do you handle emotional contact?  Craig Douglas of Shivworks has positively defined the way to manage unknown contacts (MUC), but if someone is in an emotional state, well, that is a different kettle of fish because you know something.  There’s a little less ambiguity.  You need to talk this person down if possible.  Consider apologizing. This will cause insurance agents and possibly your defense attorney to have a heart attack, but they are not on the cusp of having to fight someone by the side of the road.  “I am so sorry!  This was my fault.”  When the officer arrives, that is the time for you to tell your side, preferably in private and with video buttressing your claim.  Them: “BUT HE SAID HE WAS AT FAULT!”   You: “Yes, because you were on the verge of hitting me and I did what I had to do to de-escalate that situation.” 

Remember that emotional states can be highly transitory.  A person manifesting calm demeanor one moment can be a raging lunatic the next after they’ve considered the situation and allowed emotions to take control.  MAINTAIN DISTANCE!

Have a dashcam installed
Preferably one that captures the front, rear and inside of your vehicle.  Caution: If you are of the habit of scrolling on your phone you can record yourself engaged in distracted driving and that will NOT look good in court. 

Leaving the scene and Rolling Road Rage
Earlier I mentioned the criteria for leaving the scene of an accident.  Using the skinny pedal on the right might just trigger someone to get in their car and follow you…aggressively.   I have seen this in several instances.  They may even try to pull an Arkansas State Police style “pit” maneuver.  Once you start rolling call 911 and inform them of the rapidly degrading situation.  I can’t offer much more advice than that but just know that you’re dealing with a maniac and all bets are off.

Furthermore, and in conclusion…
There are layers upon layers of small things in these situations, the sum of which may be the difference between being inconvenienced and being dead.  The arrival of “friends” or onlookers that want to involve themselves.  A long delay before the cops show up.  An injury requiring immediate attention.  Extracting an injured driver or passenger.  All of this and more can happen but remember your mission.  Just Get Home.

Additional Resources:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD1sh6sFk-Y

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZId64sFGPY&t=2s

3. I actually offer a class dealing with these situations!

A Legal Nightmare…

This video runs for about an hour. It is worth the watch.

This is an absolute nightmare of a case that comes to us via the Attorneys on Retainer. (Click the pic to watch the video.) I have recently become a client of their services. I believe them to be the best option of many on the market. I encourage you to look at this firm, and others like it. $450 or so a year is not inconsiderable, but the cost of just getting charges dismissed can be in the tens of thousands. AOR covers all eventualities regardless of the circumstances. Read the fine print of any and all contracts! Caveat Emptor!

From this case I extracted the following lessons:
1. Be the one who calls the police after an incident of this nature, especially if force was used. The defender’s story upfront MIGHT have prevented much of this. Given the players involved there's no telling for sure, but at least it would have preempted the very dangerous felony stop that took place (see #4 below). This was a small town and everyone knew everyone…but this young man. It’s a big club, and we ain’t in it, to paraphrase George Carlin.

2. Be in the moment. You are very vulnerable when getting in and out of your vehicle. Take note of who can close the distance on you during that period. Pay attention to people that are paying attention to you. We cover this extensively in Car Problems.

3. Invoking the 5th Amendment without legal counsel present was smart, particularly given the small-town environment he was living in. Check out my detailed thoughts on this topic in this video. Once you enter the justice system you have “stepped through the looking glass”, and things can get very murky, very quickly.

4. It is common to receive conflicting commands when interacting with LE when they are engaged making an arrest in a violent felony case. He was told to put his hands up and then told to get out of the car. In order to do that he had to lower his hands to unbuckle. That was a moment fraught with absolute mortal peril. You'd think that with a history of disasters modern training and would fix this, but no.

5. Having a person that you can call that can initiate a chain of events on your behalf is mandatory. This person MUST have the contact information for your chosen legal representation. You MAY get one phone call, make it a good one. I also recommend having that number memorized or on a card you carry upon your person. You don’t want to have to unlock your phone in that circumstance…that will give the police immediate access.

6. Being denied discovery is an unfortunately recurring theme in many cases. A good attorney will hire a private investigator to work on your behalf. In this case there were nine seconds of video that somehow magically disappeared.  Those nine seconds absolutely illustrated that the complainants were clearly lying about the circumstances that led up to the defensive display of a firearm, particularly under Arizona’s Castle Doctrine. 

7. It is not surprising how long this case dragged on. People watch too much "Law and Order" where everything happens in 45 minutes and everyone is ethically pursuing justice.  The Sword of Damocles in the form of a prison sentence was poised over this young man’s head for two years and he suffered under incompetent counsel for much of that time.

8. Pepper spray is a useful tool for circumstances like this but carries its own liabilities. We integrate pepper spray training into Car Problems, Just Get Home and Concealed Carry Tactics.

9. Government agencies are full of people, and consequently you are subjected to personalities, politics and agendas, all leavened with pride. Again, we aren’t in the club.

10. People will lie, especially families. A dash cam with an internal view is now a modern necessity. If you elect the latter option keep in mind that camera could catch you scrolling on your phone when you should be driving.

11. Local politics are a huge thing. From “Big City Thinking” to “Ya’all ain’t from around here,” we aren’t in the club.

12. Console carry is...suboptimal. Your pistol has to be on your body to be truly useful. (Some of the “car holsters” I have seen are absolutely pitiful, they don’t even cover the trigger. Just say no!)

13. Not all lawyers are equal. You need not just a criminal defense attorney, but one that has worked on self-defense cases. Most criminal defense attorneys deal with people that are actually guilty and this may color their approach to your case. In this instance the original lawyer was primarily concerned with reducing his guilty client’s prison term. You CERTAINLY can’t rely on your uncle’s friend that is experienced in contract law.

I will close by observing that local media have taken up this young man’s case and hopefully there will be accountability, but I know which way to bet.

Concealed Carry in the Era of Terror Revisited

The original article on this topic was published on 7 April 2015. I have since retired after 15 years in the Intelligence Community on the counter-terrorism account.  My specialty was weapons and tactics, so that experience, along with my time in Iraq and Somalia, formed the basis of that piece. I’m afraid that the article has held up very well in the intervening decade, particularly given the recent National Counter-Terrorism Center memo that Al-Qaeda continues to have aspirations to hit us domestically. That report buttresses information from Sarah Adams, a former CIA targeteer, that claims that up to 1,000 trained AQ operatives are here and actively planning a coordinated series of attacks across the country.  When activated their intent will be to test our national will by inflicting mass casualties and chaos on a scale designed to overwhelm our capacity to respond.  This is at a time where domestic political violence is undeniably ramping up.  We are already a very divided nation living the Chinese curse of “interesting times.” That said, here’s the updated article. (Please note that some of the examples I link to are from active killer incidents in the US. As I note in the piece sometimes the tactics and techniques are indistinguishable.)

It is only a matter of time before Islamic terrorists execute a Mumbai, Westgate Mall, Garissa University College, and perhaps even a 7 October scale attack in the United States. Consequently, citizens armed against a criminal threat may find themselves drafted into the war for civilization by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Carrying a concealed pistol to protect against garden variety thugs is a vastly different proposition than confronting terrorists bent on committing murder and mayhem. Here are some planning considerations for this dire eventuality.

This attack took place outside of a publisher house in Paris.

Get your mind right, right now
Get this straight in your head. Terrorists are not criminals out to support their drug habit, or a drunken bully looking to throw you a beat down. This isn’t a parking lot dispute, a road rage incident or a conflict you can solve with de-escalation. These are ideologically committed killers determined to use violence to achieve global religious/political change. Killing as many as they can to maximize the terror impact of their acts is their goal. Do NOT underestimate these people. Take careful note not of just the mass beheadings that were once in vogue overseas, but the artful way they were staged and recorded, with high production values throughout. That is highly evolved messaging leveraging modern technology with ancient terror tactics. More recent attacks from various evil parties have even been “livestreamed” to an eager international audience. Remember that dying for their cause is considered the ultimate reward. They won’t be dissuaded and they won’t be bargained with. They will be heavily armed and adequately trained for their task, which is to slaughter unarmed innocents to further undermine governmental authority. Unlike your typical criminal crew, a few shots won’t send them into flight. They’re on a mission.

So, with that in mind, the rules change. Back shoot them without hesitation or warning. The cheaper the shot, the better. To ensure there’s not a threat from behind as you move past their bodies, “anchor” shoot them through the brain and from a position of advantage.  While these methods of engagement are illegal and inappropriate for a criminal encounter and would likely see you charged with murder in that context, I suspect a citizen acting this way against a terrorist threat will be given a pass. (Differentiating between the two at that time could be difficult. Choose wisely.)  This will essentially be participating in no notice infantry combat in your hometown.

Prepare your mind for mass chaos and carnage. Look at pictures from terrorist attacks and watch video of the bombing of the Boston Marathon. Watch the HBO specials on the first two incidents I mentioned above. That will be the reality confronting you at that time. This brutality cannot shock you into inaction. Be prepared to step over bleeding children, screaming for help and having to leave them in that condition, possibly to die, as you press ahead to stop the attack, or fight your way out.

Consider that terrorists will deliberately strike at our most vulnerable points, such as schools, malls, hotels, airports, hospitals, or in a rural area with limited capacity to respond. They will employ ruse and deception, and they will be ruthless and cunning. 

This is what success looks like to terrorists.

Finally, and most importantly, decide right now what your purpose is going to be. Are you going to intervene with the goal of thwarting the attack, or are you going to fight your way out of the hot zone and escape? The “Die Hard” series of movies featuring Bruce Willis as a hardcore cop gunning down dozens of terrorists with a Beretta and a spare magazine are entertaining, but the hard cold reality is that about the best you can hope for is to “die well” in this situation.

“Hard Skills” and Some Random Considerations
Can you shoot on the move? How about engage multiple targets while on the move in an environment where a miss means you hit an innocent? These are skills that are hard to attain and difficult to maintain on the square range with the resources most citizens have available to them but would prove crucial in this sort of confrontation.  Imagine navigating through a panic-stricken crowd with your pistol in hand.  How are they going to react to you? As their savior, or a potential killer?

Can you operate an AK or an AR? These rifles are likely what the enemy will bring, and the ability to reload and HIT with them could be crucial if you execute a battlefield pick up. Consider also how you’re going to appear to first responders with a long arm in your hands.  There have already been incidents of the “good guys” being killed by responding officers.    The risks are obvious and multilayered. 

Do you know the difference between cover and concealment, and how rifles excel at turning what you thought was cover into Swiss cheese?  Rifle bullets can penetrate a lot of material that would stop a pistol round and still be lethal.   Even your pistol can penetrate barriers, so let’s think about that application of force from our perspective.  Look for target indicators, like rifle muzzles, appearing around corners. The enemy may reveal himself with a peek-a-boo look from behind what HE thinks is cover. Firing a few shots through dry wall can be highly effective but violates the “be sure of your target” gun handling rule.  I would argue this is an exigent circumstance, but you must exercise prudent discernment...that could be a responding officer or a citizen looking to get the hell out of there.

Some of these guys may have significant combat experience and may well be wearing body armor, so think about making brain shots your default response. Also, start breaking all of the rules. The sign that says, “Employees Only!” goes out the window at the first hint of trouble.  Some people have been known to flee danger while clutching onto their worthless belongings! Once the gears shift all bets are off…empty your hands of anything that isn’t a child or a weapon and get moving.

Can you apply a tourniquet, pack a wound, strap on a pressure dressing or slap on a chest seal? Do you even have the kit to perform these tasks in your car, let alone on your person? Are you prepared to assess someone and triage them as expectant and move on? What if it is your kid? A good trauma class and carrying some gear might be a better investment than yet another shooting course.

What is your maximum effective range with your carry pistol? The ability to reliably hit a man-sized target at 50+ yards while prone and from behind cover would be a useful skill in being able to intervene from a safer distance.  Knocking these guys off their game may be enough to allow a more effective response and give potential victims time to escape.  It also may get you killed. 

Can you “pie a corner” in basic structure clearing? Move stealthily? Employ a flashlight? These also would be highly useful skills that won’t magically just appear when you need them. And let’s talk about you for a minute. Can you run 100 yards nonstop in a time that doesn’t need a calendar to measure? If you can’t, maybe a gym membership and losing 20lbs or so would be a better investment of your time and money than another carbine course.  Maintain to the extent you can the body you are living in, it’s what you’re going to have to fight with. And are you seeing a theme here?  Shooting is fun, but it is nowhere near the whole game. 

Tactics, Assumptions & Decisions…

Theirs
Leverage America’s freedoms and political divisions to infiltrate the country.  Live in obscurity while planning, gathering logistics and conducting reconnaissance and waiting for the word.  Upon activation, use deception by dressing in police uniforms and operating decommissioned police cars.  Achieve surprise on the objective and execute with speed and extreme violence of action.  Destroy whatever security forces are local to the scene and gain control of the guard shack where the CCTV feeds terminate to gather intelligence and maintain surveillance of the objective. Use knowledge of the venue layout and radios to communicate within the team to coordinate action and maximize impact. Start the Go-Pro multichannel livestream so the whole world can see what you’re doing.

Anticipate and ambush first responders with small arms fire and explosives to inflict casualties and effectively stop the response.  This will force law enforcement to deploy from a distance and possibly completely stop as they go into organizational survival mode. Communicate with offsite command and control that are monitoring live feed TV, like the Mumbai attackers, who were directed by sat phone from their handlers watching the event on BBC in Pakistan. 

Employ ruthless murder to shock people and drive them into zones of control for immediate slaughter, or to use as pawns in the media and hostage negotiation game, and then slaughter them, such as the Moscow Theater or the Beslan school attacks. Accept the mass surrender of your victims, then kill them without mercy once they’ve submitted. Perform these acts with joy in your heart and without a second of hesitation. You were born for slaughtering the infidel.

Yours
Accept what is happening at the first sight of an out of place rifle, or upon hearing shots, explosions and screams.  Remember that gunshots indoors sound much different than on the range. They are somewhat muffled for a variety of reasons, but still discernable if you know what you’re listening to. Know that some indicators of impending disaster may be much more nuanced than a screaming, panicked crowd. Take a hard look at your local police officers and know how they’re equipped and look for deviations from that standard.  Does your local department have grooming standards?  Carry AK rifles?  How “uniform” are their uniforms? Does that police car look clean, maintained and properly marked, or it it a beater off of a used car lot?

You must have the capacity to act immediately and decisively and determine the zone of action while moving to cover to assess what the hell is going on, and then away from the scene, fighting your way out if necessary. (Notice the shocked disbelief on the faces of the people in this video, and the time lag between what was obviously an abnormal event and the herd movement to an exit.)  Also, regarding explosions, be mindful that a long-used tactic is to detonate a small bomb to drive people toward a larger device. A variation on this theme is one explosion to draw people to the scene, and then a secondary device detonates.  Consider avoiding the obvious exit. There are layers upon layers to this problem. 

There may be just a lone shooter, and in that case, it is likely he’s a disaffected domestic convert that has been “Inspired” by the decline of faith in Western values and the Jihad’s excellent media campaign.  Alternatively, he could be just a plain nut, as we have seen countless times in recent days. Apply the John Farnam rule of “Plus one” and always assume there’s one more adversary.

Regardless of the number, they are probably trained at only a basic level with their weapons and are able cooperate loosely as a team with bounding overwatch and room clearing techniques.  It is possible, but unlikely, they’ll have grenades. The same applies for night vision devices. They don’t need to be Delta force, or even highly trained infantry, to achieve mass murder. Being willing and armed is more than sufficient for their task of mayhem.

Once away from the immediate scene, you can escape, lie in fixed ambush or move through the area and engage at the times and places of your choosing in a roving sort of ambush/meeting engagement. The latter is a very high risk undertaking but may serve to buy time for other citizens to escape. You will likely be significantly outgunned if you choose this option. You will likely be killed by the terrorists or possibly by responding officers much more adept at traffic stops and domestic disputes. I am not knocking them, but it is what it is.

Do NOT expect an immediate and effective law enforcement response. This event would severely strain even a resource rich department like the NYPD and the minute there are multiple “officer down” calls things are going to come to a halt. A citizen inside a store in the suburbs can’t expect the cavalry to arrive soon, if at all. Bottom line: You’re on your own. 

An AK-47 pickup waiting to happen, or the prelude to a mistake of fact shooting? Both?

LE responses can vary. Note the reversed optic on this rifle.

This will be a come as you are affair and what you have on or near you will be what you’ll be fighting with, unless you’re able to upgrade with a weapon the terrorists brought to the fight. Consequently, the magazine capacity of the pistol you’re carrying becomes a concern.  Your belly gun/pocket pistol just isn’t going to be enough.  There are arguments to be made for and against carrying a spare magazine, but in this context having a reload could be crucial.   A “truck gun”*, meaning a long arm carried in your vehicle, is potentially useful, but employing one under these circumstances is unrealistic. Would you run out to the safety of your vehicle, secure an AR, and then run back in? I’ll ask again: How do you think you’re going to look to responding law enforcement running around with a rifle in Chuck Norris fashion, be they local PD, other armed citizens rushing to the scene, State Police, FBI, or, if things get really bad, the professionals from Virginia Beach or Fort Bragg? That last circumstance would involve the suspension of Posse Comitatus, and it will take even a proactive Federal government time to act, though I guarantee those units will be spinning up as soon as news breaks. As amped up as the police are going to be, well, it will be a much different scenario than talking your way out of a ticket.

Expect mass panic on the part of people who have never considered this possibility and are suddenly confronted with imminent, violent death of not just themselves, but their children. Also expect to have to make instant decisions on who is a like-minded individual that is also carrying a pistol and is on your side, and a terrorist actor that needs shot repeatedly. There are millions of armed citizens in this country, and an unknown compatriot in arms could easily be on the scene. Communicating with that stranger, who will probably have plans and different skills than your own, could be problematic. Think of it as a pickup basketball game…in hell.

Also consider that in many localities when word of such an event gets out that people are going to arm up and converge on the scene. Imagine playing “Who’s who in the zoo” with parents coming to get their kids from a school that is under attack. I suspect that many people took lessons from the Uvalde incident that will prompt action on their part.

These guys were at a practical pistol match near the Westgate mall in Kenya. They ran to the sound of the guns. What will you do, and under what circumstances?

If I can impart the One Big Goal to maintain in this circumstance it would be “Don’t get fixed in place.” If you lose freedom of mobility, you lose options, and the odds stack up even worse than they were before. The mobility issue becomes increasingly problematic if your family is present.  How about a child in a stroller, or a toddler that has a mind of his own and can run like the dickens? This is now an absolute nightmare scenario.

Speaking of your spouse/ SO, do you train as a team? Do you have a plan where one partner scoops up the kids and everyone moves toward the exit? I’m not talking tactical movement …just plain hauling ass in a designated direction on a pre-arranged signal, no questions asked. Not fun to think about, but that is where we have been for quite some time.

Realistic Preparation and Life Apportionment
Many have long considered what I’ve described as a very low likelihood event not even worth considering, much less preparing for.  I believe that calculus has worsened in the decade since I originally posted this. If you choose to take this threat seriously, you have to recognize that there are only so many hours in a day, and between family, job, and life, there is only so much time left to train for self-defense against criminals, let alone preparing for something so monstrous.  I think that working some of these skills into your regimen with occasional distance shooting, some work from behind cover and honest talk resulting in “just in case” plans with the people in your immediate circle would go a long way toward filling those first 15 seconds of a terrible situation with some decisive action that may make the difference. (Don’t skip exercise, either!) Attending a GOOD trauma class imparts skills that are applicable in everyday life, a car accident, for example. There are bits and pieces of what I have listed that can be acquired over time that would be both fun to learn and beneficial in all circumstances.

In the end, like so many other aspects of life, there are many questions that can only be answered by you and the specific situation you face will pose unforeseeable circumstances where you may only be able to choose the least bad option. Remember that these people are 1) not stupid and 2) are highly motivated. They will have thought several moves ahead into this game, and they are praying to die for their cause. One weakness they MAY have is cultural ignorance of how many of us are armed and will fight, hard. It’s not much, and you can’t count on it, but that small, fleeting surprise might be all you have.

*IF you are of the habit of keeping a weapon in your car, please commit to bringing it into your house at night, otherwise you’re inviting highly consequential theft.

Resources
NUMEROUS excellent articles on this topic and many, many others can be found at www.activeresponsetraining.net. Greg’s work is excellent. Never a minute wasted there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate_shopping_mall_attack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College_attack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspire_%28magazine%29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_7_attacks

Trauma Training
Caleb Causey of Lonestar Medics
Greg Ellifrtiz of Active Response Training
Dark Angel Medical
Stop the Bleed
If you’re desperate, you can watch my video on this topic here.
There are numerous former Special Forces medics teaching these skills as well.  Caveat Emptor!