It’s important to scan for additional threats during any confrontation. Here, Spaulding’s students practice this skill during firing-line exercises.

There are no blind gunfighters. When it comes to personal security, defined as those things we need do to protect ourselves, 90 percent of needed feedback comes from our ability to see in a 360-degree circle (and up and down, depending on the environment).

In the case of law enforcement, officers intentionally place themselves in harm's way because our basic function is to seek out and interdict those who would do harm to the citizens we protect. And when we have to go down that alley or search that house, we need to be able to see what is going on because sight-- combined with our other senses--is essential when engaging in combat.

We are visual creatures, with eyes in the front of our head and ears to the side. The ears help up discover threats from the rear, but if we sense something we will turn our head and look because we need to visually assess a situation to determine a proper response.

There is a process for this. We must find what we heard or sensed, identify it, decide what it is and then act appropriately--and we must do all of this in just a few milliseconds. In a situation that may last only seconds, time is critical, so we must assess quickly and correctly.

The person who sees the threat coming well in advance has a huge advantage while the person who is ambushed (surprised) will probably never catch up, regardless of training and skill level. This is why situational awareness is the key to personal security, regardless of the occupation you are in.

One of the primary problems with observation is our desire to intensely focus on the problem or potential problem. If a person sees something he thinks is a threat, he will focus on it to the exclusion of all other things and can miss additional threats. The field of focus narrows as we concentrate on potential danger.

To fight effectively, we must train ourselves to overcome this natural response to perceived danger. What is referred to as "tunnel vision" can be broken by training shooters to both "scan and breathe" immediately after confrontation.

While many instructors shout this to a line of students after a volley of fire, few students do it regularly. In my classes, I will walk up and down the line displaying a number of fingers, which means that an additional threat has presented itself and the student needs to fire that many additional shots. When doing this, I will move constantly and hold my hands in varied positions to make them scan 360 degrees.

It's true that the hands are what can kill you, but it is also important to see what the hands are connected to. What if you saw a gun in someone's hand, fired a few rounds and only then took note that the hand was connected to a uniformed police officer? Not good.

It is important to scan the area, identify the potential threat and then look at the hands.

The hierarchy of threat management is avoid, evade and counter, which means that you counter a threat--with great enthusiasm--only if you cannot avoid or evade the situation. Your ability to follow this hierarchy is a product of situational awareness, and whether or not you avoid or evade is dependent on how soon you see possible danger. The farther off the better.

Studies of armed confrontations involving police have shown that at least half the time there is more than one suspect involved. I believe that it may be higher as we have no idea how many suspects flee once the confrontation begins.