The focus of counterinsurgency operations generally progresses through three stages which stage has a goal of protecting the population

The initial stage is in charge of protecting the population in case of an attack. The first stage is defined as stopping bleeding, which means that it is necessary to do whatever it takes to protect the population, regardless of the collateral damage, the population must be protected at all costs. These COIN operations are very similar to those practiced by emergency medical services, which must stop at all costs the blood loss of the person to save his life. During the initial scenario some defense measures can be taken with information from the enemy.