Children are taught to “stop, drop and roll” if their clothing ever catches fire. Now some authorities want adults to "run, hide and fight” if they’re ever at work when a gunman opens fire.

In an eerie video funded by the Department of Homeland Security, experts offer advice on what safely could be considered a worst-case scenario at the workplace.

"It may feel like just another day at the office, but occasionally, life feels more like an action movie,” intones the narrator as workers are seen holding meetings, making copies, taking coffee breaks or working in solitude within their cubicles.

Suddenly, a man dressed in black and wearing sunglasses takes a shotgun from his backpack and begins blasting away, starting with a security guard standing next to the elevator. (The video is a dramatization, but may be disturbing.)

The video, nearly six minutes long, was produced by the city of Houston with money from a federal grant.

“In particular, we wanted to address those early moments, when an individual has the best opportunity to save himself,” said Dennis Storemski, director of Houston’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security.

While the frightening video may bring to mind recent attacks on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and movie theater in Colorado, Storemski said the producers had a different model in mind: the 2008 chain of attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people.

The video promotes a simple, three-step plan to escape danger:

1. Run. Always try to escape if possible, even if others insist on staying behind.
2. Hide. If you can’t escape, conceal yourself. Lock doors, turn off the lights and silence your cell phone.
3. Fight. As a last resort, prepare to battle or throw off the attacker, using a chair, metal trash can, fire extinguisher or whatever else can be turned as a weapon.

Funding for the $200,000 video came from a $3.6 million grant Houston received from the Department of Homeland Security. The video was made in May and became available just days before the deadly July 20 Aurora, Colo., movie theater attack that killed 12 and injured 58.

Nicole Stickel, a spokeswoman for the DHS, said money came from a program funding "law enforcement and terrorism prevention activities, like training videos."

The department offers similar advice in booklet form, without the frightening visuals.

Storemski said the response to the “Run, Hide, Fight” video has been overwhelmingly positive. The video has received more than 1.3 million hits on YouTube and has been shared with police jurisdictions throughout the country. DVD requests also have come in from as far as Germany, Japan and Australia.

However, the video has been criticized over its advice to fight back if necessary. But some security experts say that choice makes sense.

“We used to say cooperate with the robber or whoever is harming you, but the paradigm has shifted,” said Vernon Herron, senior policy analyst for the Center of Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland. “If someone has in their mind that they want to shoot and injure and kill as many people as possible, cooperating with somebody like that is not going to help.”

(Comment below or on our Facebook page.)

Rain is in short supply across most of the country and you could be paying the price for it at the grocery store. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

After dropping 75 of the previous 77 days, gas prices are ticking back up and could remain high for the remainder of the summer. NBC's Mara Schiavocampo takes a look at what's fueling the recent price surge at the pump. 

TODAY real estate contributor Barbara Corcoran provides an insider's look at some of the celebrity homes currently on the market, including Jim Carrey's Malibu mansion and Sandra Bullock's Austin, Texas, getaway.

Also, in more down to earth real estate news, Corcoran looks at what home buyers can get for $400,000 around the U.S.

TODAY's real estate expert Barbara Corcoran discusses how using bright colors in your home decorating can help attract buyers to your home. 

The National Gun Victims Action Council began a boycott of Starbucks Monday over the coffee giant's policy of allowing customers to bring guns into their shops in states with "open carry" laws. CNBC's Melissa Lee discusses the protest with the head of the NGAC.

Discuss this issue on Facebook.

The holidays are over and your credit card most likely got a good workout in the past month. But now is the time to take advantage of some screaming good deals — especially for electronics.

TODAY financial contributor Farnoosh Torabi has the details.

Just two shopping days left before Christmas, and people are looking for bargains this year at pawn shops. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis tells you what you can do when you receive a gift card you do not want to use.

For the past two weeks, TODAY.com’s Life Inc. blog has been exploring what it’s like to live on the nation’s median household income of about $50,000 a year: Not rich, not poor, but rather in the exact midpoint of the nation’s income spectrum.

To conclude the series, we asked the people we interviewed to tell us, on video and in their own words, a bit about what it’s like to be part of the median. Here’s what they had to say:

For some, a household income of around $50,000 a year is enough to live comfortably with a large family. For others, it’s not enough to cover rent and utilities.

Many people living on around $50,000 a year told us that they are doing fine, but not great. They can cover their bills and feed their families, but there is little leftover for an emergency car repair or a family vacation.

How well a household can do on $50,000 a year depends on a number of factors: Where you live, how large your family is, how well you’ve budgeted and what kind of financial curveballs you’ve been thrown.

More on this series:

Click here to see previous stories in our "We are the median" series. We’re also sharing our thoughts — and yours — on Twitter (hashtag #median), Facebook and Google Plus. We invite you to comment on our posts — but keep it civil and on topic, please!

Personal finance expert David Bach explains the importance of putting your extra cash to good use by having an emergency account and continuing to pay off your mortgage.