This week marks a year since the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, which reminded meeting planners and the hospitality world in the worst possible way of the need to prepare for the possibility of a live shooter situation as part of every pre-event planning.
Multi-Threat Shield (MTS) is among devices now being marketed to hotels to help hotel staff, security guards and others to protect themselves while waiting for police and emergency personnel to arrive.
More: How Can Planners Prepare for Las Vegas Massacre-Style Attack?
Marketed by Force Training Institute, a Southern California company, MTS is a collapsible shield that weighs 7 pounds that resembles a laptop bag until unfolded. When flipped opened, it becomes a three-foot-long barrier that can withstand multiple impacts from knives, as well as most handgun, shotgun and pistol-caliber submachine gun threats. With an additional insert (increasing total weight to 10 pounds), it can withstand rifle fire.
Marketing information suggests that security personnel can hold it up while tending victims, and it can also be hung on a door to shield people inside.
MTS is made of 25 layers of laminated Kevlar, and it’s rated to be as effective as body armor for police. But does it really work? Yes, proved PC World, which tested it as a “bulletproof” laptop bag. The laptop didn’t survive, but a variety of weapons failed to pierce the shield. You can watch the video to see for yourself.
Should you add an MTS to your planner emergency kit? You decide. But be aware the basic model retails for $995, and the shield with “rifle plate” sells for $1,639.
