Recommendations and Feedback
Upon completion of the project, we presented an evaluation
of our findings. Summary reports and recommendations were provided to each of
the school principals. In making the recommendations, we were mindful of
keeping costs minimal and implementation practical.
Specific guidelines are described below.
Evacuation/Relocation Recommendations
The principal will:
-
Make an announcement over the PA
system while crisis team members deliver instructions to key staff.
The crisis team will:
- Initiate the response.
- Inspect the building and direct all students to exits and
assembly areas.
- Carry walkie-talkies and cell phones.
- Communicate with town emergency response teams.
- Communicate regularly with staff regarding the status of
the emergency.
The secretarial staff will:
- bring the attendance roster for students and staff to the
alternate site.
- take the crisis kit.
Teachers and other support staff will:
- Assist children with mobility difficulties.
- Take their classroom crisis kit.
- Lead students through evacuation using designated routes.
- Check lavatories and other areas of the building where
students may be unsupervised in order to assure evacuation is complete.
- Take attendance and report any missing students to a
crisis team member.
- Lead their students to the off-site location in the event
of relocation following the designated route.
- Stay with their students until further instructions are
given.
The school nurse will:
- Bring the emergency medical kit and the first aid kit.
- Bring student emergency cards and medical information, and
- Monitor students with special medical needs and notify the
administration of any urgent medical needs.
Custodians will:
- Maintain communication with the administration who may
assign specific tasks.
- Inspect the building following an evacuation.
- Assume responsibility for building safety and carry a
school floor plan, which includes the location of utility shut-off
valves.
Shelter-in-Place Recommendations
The principal will:
- Make an announcement over the PA system and mobilize the crisis
team.
- Designate staff who would take responsibility for
"sweeping" the hallways and bathrooms to ensure that all children were in
the proper places and were accounted for.
The crisis team will:
- Inspect the building and playground and direct all staff
and students to shelter area.
- Communicate with town emergency responders.
- Maintain communication with the central office (or other
incident command center) using walkie-talkies or cell phones.
The secretarial staff will:
- Bring the attendance roster for students and staff and the
substitute list.
Teachers and other support staff will:
- Move all students indoors to the common area.
- Assist children with mobility difficulties.
- take attendance and inform the crisis team of any children
that are missing.
- Close all windows and doors, and pull down shades prior to
exiting the classroom.
- Place a wet paper towel over the nose and mouth for
temporary respiratory protection, inform the incident command center and,
potentially, relocate to another part of the building if there appears to
be contamination within the shelter.
- Remain with their students until an "all clear" is given.
The school nurse will:
- Follow instructions for school staff if students are in
the health room.
- Bring the emergency medical kit and the first aid kit.
- Bring student emergency cards and medical information.
- Monitor students with special medical needs, and notify
the administration of any urgent medical needs.
Custodians will:
- Shut down the classroom/building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
- Turn off local fans in the area.
- Close doors and windows.
Lockdown
The principal will:
- Initiate lockdown
if a threatening, suspicious, or violent intruder is found in the building;
trying to enter the building; or if their imminent presence is suspected.
- Dial 911 and
notify town emergency responders.
- Make an
announcement over the PA system.
- Mobilize the crisis
team.
The crisis
team will:
- Attempt to
identify the area of intrusion.
- Maintain
communication using walkie-talkies or cell phones.
The secretarial
staff will:
- Dial 911 and
contact the principal if they witness a violent situation.
- Bring the attendance roster for students and staff and the
substitute list.
- Bring the crisis kit to a safe location in the building.
Teachers
and other support staff will:
- Contact the central
office immediately if they witness a violent or potentially violent situation.
- Have all
students in the hallway enter their classroom.
- Check
lavatories and have those students using the facilities enter the closest classroom.
- Turn off lights,
lock classroom doors and windows, and, if it is safe to do so, pull the shades.
- Keep students
away from windows and doors.
- Take attendance
and report missing and extra students to the office.
- Have all
students stop and drop to the floor if a gunshot or explosion is heard.
- Maintain a calm
environment and reassure students that everything is being done to return the
situation to normal.
- Remain in the
classroom until further instructions are given by the principal.
The school
nurse will:
- Dial 911 and
contact the principal if they witness a violent situation.
- Follow
instructions for lockdown if students are in the health room.
- Communicate
with other members of the crisis team.
Custodians
will:
- Lock all
entrances to the building.
- Maintain
communication with administration.
- Carry school floor
plan showing shut-off valves for all utilities.
The Role of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
Parent-teacher organizations have a
poorly defined role in the construction of a school-based plan. On the one
hand, the PTO can have a very valuable role in disseminating information and
providing input on all aspects of the plan's creation and implementation.
However, many families prefer not to have details of disaster preparedness
plans, finding them anxiety-provoking. A useful approach would be for the principal
to present an overview of plans at a PTO meeting, giving the group the option
of being involved in all aspects of planning (e.g., discussions about
stockpiling of potassium iodide or details of lockdown or sheltering-in plans).
For those PTOs that request full participation, reports and feedback can be
incorporated into the plan.
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