A Fighting School

posted Friday February 13th, 2009 - 0825 hours

Sympathetic Response
of
Startled Reflex

     Ever been frighten suddenly and your body made some strange jerking or lurching movement? Most of us have experienced this involuntary movement of our body or body parts at some time. Some of the movement may have come from our training as a reaction to a situation we are ready for but not expecting. Other times our system takes over and causes some of our body parts to move when we had no intention.
     Involuntary movement of our body parts under normal conditions is not usually reason for alarm. However, other times it could become deadly. A DPS officer after a high speed chase had a teenager by the nap of his neck while wrestling the kid against his car. The officer also had his gun in his hand pointed at the back of the youngsters head. The young man made a move to escape the officer's grasp and when he did, the gun went off and a bullet entered the back of his head. The teenager fell to the ground DRT, Dead Right There! The teenager lost his life. The DPS officer's life, for all practical purposes, was ruined. And, there were many family members and friends, on both sides, that were deeply effected by this tragic event.
     What happened? How could a seasoned and responsible police officer make such a seemingly stupid error over a traffic stop, which should have ended, at worse with a little jail time? Of course we know he must have had his finger on the trigger, but why would he have pressed the trigger?
     Before we explore the answer, let me answer in part, your question. I know you are probably asking, why did the officer have a gun to the back of this kids head? Without getting off the subject, let me say for clarification, the officer got to this point following standard procedures and acceptable cause back in those days. Cops have better methods today then yesterday to apprehend suspects, but at the time, this officer's actions were not far from common practices.
     Now back to my previous question, "but why would he have pressed the trigger?" The answer turns out to be…..involuntary movement as the result of a startled reflex and sympathetic response. This event, mind you, occurred before any of us knew anything about the subject. It was not presented at the police academy, during in-service training, or even discussed within the industry. We just didn't know much about it and it remained sort of a mystery.
     Now we know what the issue is. Of course even back then, we knew and so did the DPS officer, to keep our finger off the trigger. That's our Gun Handling Safety Rule number 3. What we didn't know back then, was how our trigger finger could so easily compress the trigger when we had absolutely no intention of doing so.
     Placing our finger on the trigger when we have no intention to shoot, does not in itself necessarily mean the gun is going to fire. Try it yourself…while at the range pointing down range aim in at the target. Place your finger on the trigger and hold it there. Hold on target as long as you can….one minute, two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes! The gun is not going to fire. It's not going to fire until you purposely press the trigger.
     Why will it not fire? We are thinking specifically about this experiment, we have placed our finger on the trigger, but our thoughts are focused on not firing the gun. We are purposely not applying pressure to the trigger. It is a peaceful, secure, and safe environment allowing us to fully concentrate on not firing the gun without any violent or sudden threatening interruptions.
     Here is another example; while clearing a village and tunnel system I was walking along with a tunnel rat (the nick name "tunnel rat" is in reference to the guy that went into tunnels to find the enemy). We were walking from one tunnel to the next as he went down inside the tunnel to clear them. It was one of those days when we had captured or exterminated several enemy and everyone was on high alert and expecting and prepared for the worse every step of the way.
     As was common, the tunnel rat had a 45 caliber 1911A1 is his right hand. Also common and especially in this area, it was riddled with small punji pits, many booby trapped with trip wire grenades. Most of the booby traps didn't work, but every once in while they would work and that made for a nasty surprise.
     The tunnel rat stepped a little to close to a punji pit, the side of it gave way and to prevent his foot from falling in, he lurched to the left falling down on his left side. As he threw his body to the left to prevent his right foot sliding into the pit he lost his balance falling forward and reached out with his hands and arms to catch his fall. The 45 went off, firing a round harmlessly into the ground just before the barrel got stuffed into the dirt!
     This may not be an example of sympathetic response, but it clearly may have been caused by the startled reflex. Obviously the thumb safety wasn't engaged, not that uncommon for the situation at hand. And, at the start of this event, his finger might not have been on the trigger, but at some point during the fall, his finger went on the trigger as he made a reflex action to brace for the fall, his reaction pressed the trigger enough to get a negligent discharge.
     Our nervous system is extraordinarily complex and phenomenally efficient. I doubt those doctors and scientist, who have dedicated their lives to studying it, truly understand all of it's workings. I certainly don't understand the science of it, but I have experienced this thing we refer to as sympathetic response, triggered by a startled reflex. It is real, it does happen, and it can effect the outcome of how we handle dangerous and deadly tools like firearms. It's another serious reason, to follow "Rule Number 3, Keep Your Finger(s) OFF the Trigger, until Your Sights are on Target"", followed by "Rule Number 2, Never Cover Anything You Aren't Willing to Destroy"
     When the teenager violently jerked sideways to escape from the officer, the movement startled the officer, the officer using his left hand to yank the kid back onto the car, experienced the sympathetic response, and this youngster paid the price. As the officer grasped tighter on the teenagers neck with his left hand, the officers right hand grasped in sympathetic response, with a result of the trigger finger tightening enough to discharge the handgun.
     In layman terms, I fondly refer to as Redneck logic, for a brief moment, it was a cross circuiting of our nervous system, with left and right getting tangled together with the same involuntary brain commands. I'm sure the medical books have a more scientific explanation, but nonetheless, that is what happens, the right responds similar to the left, unintentionally, in what seems like a half hearted attempt to sympathize and assist the left.
     The discharge was a surprise to the officer who had no intent of shooting, and only had his gun out as a control treat to bring this unruly youngest under control. If the teenager had remained in place as instructed by the officer, the officers next step probably would have been to holster his gun and cuff the teenager. During an event like this there are always a lot of "if's". However, the fact is, this tragic death could have easily been avoided.
     Fortunately we learn, often times at the expense of others, and now it is common practice at police academies across the nation, that recruits are schooled on sympathetic response and startled reflex. They learn how involuntary body movements can effect their interaction with a subject or suspect.
     As citizens who own and handle firearms, deadly weapons, and lethal force tools, we need to understand this nervous system quirk and how it can effect our handling of guns and other deadly instruments. When we find ourselves in a situation we perceive to be in grave danger, possibly facing serious bodily injury or even death, and a sudden movement is our reaction to save ourselves, as we reach out with our left hand, we may find our right hand mimicking our left. Not always, but sometimes. Maybe it happens to others more than some. Maybe for some it is more of a violent response than others.
     It's a deadly serious reason to keep our finger off the trigger until our sights are on target, off the trigger until we intend to shoot, off the trigger until we are ready. We can't determine when we will be startled, so it is best to train at all times and build the habit of preventing a startled reflex sympathetic response.
     We should never rely on a mechanical safety device, but rather train ourselves to fight the natural placement of our trigger finger. It is against the law to purposely or negligently shoot another person unless we are defending ourselves or others against unlawful deadly force. If a person deserves to be shot, we should purposely place our finger on the trigger and press multiple times to get the job done. Otherwise, we can learn from the tragedy of others and keep our finger firmly on the side of the frame until there is good reason to reach for the trigger.
     We often learn from our mistakes, but I can attest firsthand, making a mistake like a negligent discharge is not the best way to learn….learn from others, learn from me, avoid the firsthand experience….

----Eagle Six



posted Friday February 13th, 2009 - 0825 hours


Sympathetic Response of Startled Reflex

Ever been frighten suddenly and your body made some strange jerking or lurching movement? Most of us have experienced this involuntary movement of our body or body parts at some time. Some of the movement may have come from our training as a reaction to a situation we are ready for but not expecting. Other times our system takes over and causes some of our body parts to move when we had no intention. Involuntary movement of our body parts under normal conditions is not usually reason for alarm. However, other times it could become deadly. A DPS officer after a high speed chase had a teenager by the nap of his neck while wrestling the kid against his car. The officer also had his gun in his hand pointed at the back of the youngsters head. The young man made a move to escape the officer's grasp and when he did, the gun went off and a bullet entered the back of his head. The teenager fell to the ground DRT, Dead Right There! The teenager lost his life. The DPS officer's life, for all practical purposes, was ruined. And, there were many family members and friends, on both sides, that were deeply effected by this tragic event. What happened? How could a seasoned and responsible police officer make such a seemingly stupid error over a traffic stop, which should have ended, at worse with a little jail time? Of course we know he must have had his finger on the trigger, but why would he have pressed the trigger? Before we explore the answer, let me answer in part, your question. I know you are probably asking, why did the officer have a gun to the back of this kids head? Without getting off the subject, let me say for clarification, the officer got to this point following standard procedures and acceptable cause back in those days. Cops have better methods today then yesterday to apprehend suspects, but at the time, this officer's actions were not far from common practices. Now back to my previous question, "but why would he have pressed the trigger?" The answer turns out to be…..involuntary movement as the result of a startled reflex and sympathetic response. This event, mind you, occurred before any of us knew anything about the subject. It was not presented at the police academy, during in-service training, or even discussed within the industry. We just didn't know much about it and it remained sort of a mystery. Now we know what the issue is. Of course even back then, we knew and so did the DPS officer, to keep our finger off the trigger. That's our Gun Handling Safety Rule number 3. What we didn't know back then, was how our trigger finger could so easily compress the trigger when we had absolutely no intention of doing so. Placing our finger on the trigger when we have no intention to shoot, does not in itself necessarily mean the gun is going to fire. Try it yourself…while at the range pointing down range aim in at the target. Place your finger on the trigger and hold it there. Hold on target as long as you can….one minute, two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes! The gun is not going to fire. It's not going to fire until you purposely press the trigger. Why will it not fire? We are thinking specifically about this experiment, we have placed our finger on the trigger, but our thoughts are focused on not firing the gun. We are purposely not applying pressure to the trigger. It is a peaceful, secure, and safe environment allowing us to fully concentrate on not firing the gun without any violent or sudden threatening interruptions. Here is another example; while clearing a village and tunnel system I was walking along with a tunnel rat (the nick name "tunnel rat" is in reference to the guy that went into tunnels to find the enemy). We were walking from one tunnel to the next as he went down inside the tunnel to clear them. It was one of those days when we had captured or exterminated several enemy and everyone was on high alert and expecting and prepared for the worse every step of the way. As was common, the tunnel rat had a 45 caliber 1911A1 is his right hand. Also common and especially in this area, it was riddled with small punji pits, many booby trapped with trip wire grenades. Most of the booby traps didn't work, but every once in while they would work and that made for a nasty surprise. The tunnel rat stepped a little to close to a punji pit, the side of it gave way and to prevent his foot from falling in, he lurched to the left falling down on his left side. As he threw his body to the left to prevent his right foot sliding into the pit he lost his balance falling forward and reached out with his hands and arms to catch his fall. The 45 went off, firing a round harmlessly into the ground just before the barrel got stuffed into the dirt! This may not be an example of sympathetic response, but it clearly may have been caused by the startled reflex. Obviously the thumb safety wasn't engaged, not that uncommon for the situation at hand. And, at the start of this event, his finger might not have been on the trigger, but at some point during the fall, his finger went on the trigger as he made a reflex action to brace for the fall, his reaction pressed the trigger enough to get a negligent discharge. Our nervous system is extraordinarily complex and phenomenally efficient. I doubt those doctors and scientist, who have dedicated their lives to studying it, truly understand all of it's workings. I certainly don't understand the science of it, but I have experienced this thing we refer to as sympathetic response, triggered by a startled reflex. It is real, it does happen, and it can effect the outcome of how we handle dangerous and deadly tools like firearms. It's another serious reason, to follow "Rule Number 3, Keep Your Finger(s) OFF the Trigger, until Your Sights are on Target"", followed by "Rule Number 2, Never Cover Anything You Aren't Willing to Destroy" When the teenager violently jerked sideways to escape from the officer, the movement startled the officer, the officer using his left hand to yank the kid back onto the car, experienced the sympathetic response, and this youngster paid the price. As the officer grasped tighter on the teenagers neck with his left hand, the officers right hand grasped in sympathetic response, with a result of the trigger finger tightening enough to discharge the handgun. In layman terms, I fondly refer to as Redneck logic, for a brief moment, it was a cross circuiting of our nervous system, with left and right getting tangled together with the same involuntary brain commands. I'm sure the medical books have a more scientific explanation, but nonetheless, that is what happens, the right responds similar to the left, unintentionally, in what seems like a half hearted attempt to sympathize and assist the left. The discharge was a surprise to the officer who had no intent of shooting, and only had his gun out as a control treat to bring this unruly youngest under control. If the teenager had remained in place as instructed by the officer, the officers next step probably would have been to holster his gun and cuff the teenager. During an event like this there are always a lot of "if's". However, the fact is, this tragic death could have easily been avoided. Fortunately we learn, often times at the expense of others, and now it is common practice at police academies across the nation, that recruits are schooled on sympathetic response and startled reflex. They learn how involuntary body movements can effect their interaction with a subject or suspect. As citizens who own and handle firearms, deadly weapons, and lethal force tools, we need to understand this nervous system quirk and how it can effect our handling of guns and other deadly instruments. When we find ourselves in a situation we perceive to be in grave danger, possibly facing serious bodily injury or even death, and a sudden movement is our reaction to save ourselves, as we reach out with our left hand, we may find our right hand mimicking our left. Not always, but sometimes. Maybe it happens to others more than some. Maybe for some it is more of a violent response than others. It's a deadly serious reason to keep our finger off the trigger until our sights are on target, off the trigger until we intend to shoot, off the trigger until we are ready. We can't determine when we will be startled, so it is best to train at all times and build the habit of preventing a startled reflex sympathetic response. We should never rely on a mechanical safety device, but rather train ourselves to fight the natural placement of our trigger finger. It is against the law to purposely or negligently shoot another person unless we are defending ourselves or others against unlawful deadly force. If a person deserves to be shot, we should purposely place our finger on the trigger and press multiple times to get the job done. Otherwise, we can learn from the tragedy of others and keep our finger firmly on the side of the frame until there is good reason to reach for the trigger. We often learn from our mistakes, but I can attest firsthand, making a mistake like a negligent discharge is not the best way to learn….learn from others, learn from me, avoid the firsthand experience….

*----Eagle Six*