How to Plan for School Emergencies

The Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS) recommends that every school have an emergency plan in place. In collaboration with the Department of Education (DOE), OSDFS encourages schools to come up with what they call "go kits" or emergency kits, which would be placed strategically throughout the school, in case of emergencies. The steps to planning for school emergencies involve mitigation and prevention; preparation; response; and recovery, according to the DOE and OSDFS. Because schools tend to not have a lot of money for extraneous resources or space to house a variety of emergency kits, a few all-purpose kits---created based on these four steps---will suffice.

Things You'll Need

• Emergency contact information (police, fire department and utility companies)
• Aerial photos of your school
• Map of the area surrounding your school
• Utility shut-off instructions
• Reflective vests, to be worn by all teachers and staff
• Whistles (to get the kids' attention)
• Walkie-talkies or cell phones
• Sheets, blankets and pillows
• Candles and matches
• Battery-operated radio with batteries
• Flashlight with batteries
• Duct tape and large trash bags
• Bottled water
• List of all students who were present on the day of the disaster
• Photos of students and staff, and every student's contact information (to be kept on a disk or flash drive)

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Instructions

Mitigation and Prevention

• 1

  Develop ideas of what may go wrong at your school, such as earthquakes, fires, bomb threats, shootings and come up with ways to counteract these threats and prevent them in the first place. Lockdown, fire, tornado and earthquake drills are a good step in minimizing confusion during an incident.

• 2

  Consult with local law enforcement and other emergency responders during this stage, as they can help guide you as to what safety issues and concerns your school faces. For example, they may determine that your windows and doors need extra reinforcement, in the event of a lockdown, or your school needs to add more sprinkler systems, should a fire occur; or the bookcases in your library should be bolted down, in the event of an earthquake.

• 3

  Examine liability issues, in the event of school emergencies.

Preparation

• 4

  Develop an emergency plan. Be sure to include emergency responders during this phase, as well. A set of terminology and vocabulary will need to be put in place, and emergency responders and school personnel will need to use this vocabulary. This will keep confusion between agencies and the school down to a minimum.

• 5

  Form a school crisis team. Designate certain members of your staff to be the school commander (usually the principal); the spokesperson (who will speak with the press); student caregivers; security officers; liaison to emergency responders (this can be clerical staff); and medical staff (the school nurse or anyone else with CPR or medical training). The medical staff should be sure they have rounded up all medications for those students who take them during school, on a daily basis. Finally, be sure you have designated certain personnel to assist those with special needs.

• 6

  Make sure you have created multiple kits, placed strategically throughout your school. All-purpose emergency kits should include a first aid kit; an emergency action guide for your school---that you have developed with the help of local law enforcement and your school administrators; emergency contact information, aerial photos of your school; map of the area surrounding your school; and utility shut-off instructions. Other items you may want to consider are reflective vests, to be worn by all teachers and staff; whistles (to get the kids' attention); and walkie-talkies. Be sure to include sheets, candles, blankets, matches, pillows, bottled water, battery-operated radio with batteries, flashlights with batteries; cell phones, duct tape and large trash bags. Finally, you should have a list of all students who were present on the day of the disaster; photos of students and staff, and every student's contact information. You can keep these on a disk or flash drive, for easy access.

Response

• 7

  Notify emergency responders quickly, and either evacuate the school or go into lockdown mode, depending on the situation.

• 8

  Initiate medical treatment, and triage those who are injured. During the situation, be sure to try to keep a level head and remain calm, the children will take their emotional cues from you.

• 9

  Communicate appropriate and accurate information to the press and emergency responders, suggests the OSDFS and the DOE.

Recovery

• 10

  Designate a student release area, and be sure you have enough student release forms for parents and guardians to fill out. This will help you keep track of all students leaving the building after the incident.

• 11

  Conduct a debriefing, and include all emergency responders who were at the scene of the emergency and school personnel, to determine what mistakes were made and what worked.

• 12

  Resupply your emergency kits to prepare for future incidents. Debrief parents, and ensure them that you are revising your emergency plans based on what you have learned from the recent situation.