Since there are 2.5 times more private security officers as compared to the number of U.S. law enforcement personnel, it’s obvious that private security and enterprise employees more often get the first word on the threat of a bomb.

So it is important that these men and women know what to do within a few seconds of an alert, especially since there has been a spike in the number of bomb-related incidents this fall.

Just last week…

In Fruita, Colo., a man walked into a branch of U.S. Bank and verbally demanded money from bank employees, claiming he had a remote-control bomb outside the bank. In Wauwatosa, Wis., U.S. Post Office employees were forced to evacuate after an elderly woman told a clerk there was a bomb in the package she was mailing. In Fort Meyers, Fla., a bomb threat forced a school evacuation at Lemon Bay High School.

Reception of officers answering the telephone should have a bomb threat form to collect information asap as well as an SOP as to who to call in the event of a bomb threat.