Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Taking Action: Creating Model Emergency Management Plans for Schools, Institutions of Higher Education and Houses of Worship

Social Network Monitoring and Analytics provide law enforcement agencies some powerful new force multipliers in combating violence and crime across the USA. These new tools enable Law Enforcement agencies to monitor, detect, and even predict violent acts before they occur. Research data and actual events show that individuals, or groups of individuals who plan to conduct extreme violence on campus, or in a public venue ...more »

It's not just the "plan". Rather, it's the "process". As a former emergency management specialist now advocating school safety (www.thepeacechallenge.org), we promote parental and age appropriate student involvement in the development of emergency management programs in schools. This requires thinking "outside the box" to an extent. Instead of expecting students and staff to blindly follow procedures in a plan, they will ...more »

All schools are different. I am on the school safety committee developed post Sandy Hook. We discuss issues like locking doors to classes, but some of our elementary schools are build with large glass sections in the doors. making locking them a moot point. Problems must be addressed at the local level and may very well be different at ell schools based upon design. The best we can hope for from the federal side is a ...more »

The "I Love U Guys" Foundation was created to restore and protect the joy of youth through educational programs and positive actions in collaboration with families, schools, communities, organizations and government entities. One of those activities was developing The Standard Response Protocol, which is less about developing a one-size-fits-all plan, and more about common language and response actions simple for students, ...more »

One of the main things I notice as an emergency planner is the continual need within school plans for a practical and logistical exercise plan. A school could have the most sound plan, but can remain ineffective if the end users(teachers, staff, and students, occupants) have knowledge of the procedures within the plan. As an Eagle scout, being prepared is our motto. Thusly, knowledge is power, power is strength, strength ...more »

Any plan for an institution has to center around communications. Reaction to a threat will involve quickly evaluating the threat, selecting the plan, and dispatching the order to implement. This ability to communicate must be all-inclusive in that it must reach every individual and must not rely on the presence of electrical or other outside energy to each building or wing of the institution. Once the order is received ...more »

Emergency management plans for school, institutions of higher education, and houses of worship should focus their plans to improving the schools security and their emergency plans. When I was in high school we practiced fire drills throughout the year and I believe emergency plans should be practiced in the same way. Students should be familiar with the plans and after practice know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. ...more »

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has developed an online employee training program to accompany the substantial all-hazards emergency plan already in place at each of our schools. Called the Safety Training for Emergency Preparedness at Schools (STEPS) program, the courses allow us to offer consistent training in the practices and procedures embodied in our school safety plans and district policies. LAUSD ...more »

Seven staff members from our college campus attended the FEMA training on emergency management for higher education sponsored by Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, WI in December of 2012. This training is highly recommended! It motivated, those of us in attendance, to create a committee to take an active role in emergency preparedness/planning on campus. The training also provided us with the ability to network ...more »

If your house of worship has members that are part of law enforcement it just makes sense to include them in developing a plan. One such plan has law enforcement members placed at strategic locations during services (they are unidentified) to deal with unexpected threats while non-law enforcement members are assigned other specific duties (such as calling 911, directing members to exits during an emergency, etc.). A ...more »

In the end, it will just be really important for local elected officials, emergency managers, emergency responders, as well as leaders of schools, universities, and houses of worship to have a single source of primary guidance for emergency planning for schools, institutions of higher learning, and houses of worship. The Departments directed to work on this need to produce a joint document.

Safety & security initiatives such as interior and exterior surveillance cameras on all school campuses, in which the Waterford Police Department has access; swipe card access in all buildings; purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) for every building; development and implementation of a bio-security and pandemic plan; large scale emergency drills; staff emergency training; mental health services; Alcohol, ...more »

Struggling with budget cuts, the public school system often forgets to make safety a first priority. The sacred cow, high school athletics, is an important part of the public school system but our money should first and foremost be spent on upgrading our buildings to improve student safety. I believe safety should come before academics as well. As a parent, I think I can speak for everyone in saying that I will forgive ...more »

I think EVERY school should have plans in place for a variety of situations that can happen. Whether it's a shooter, earthquake or fire. Every school should have a plan to keep the kids safe. I think we should have some staff and teachers carrying Tasers. We should have food and water in the classroom in case it is on lock down for a long period of time.

Several years ago, Fran Townsend said the way to develop a culture of preparedness was to first involve the kids. To this end, we are trying something new. Using grade- and high-school students, we are having an emergency preparedness rodeo. Teams of students will go from station to performing a variety of tasks to illustrate preparedness. At one station, they will have to chose between a variety of available objects ...more »

I believe that successful emergency planning for schools has to be rooted in a strong relationship with local first responders. In my district we have spent the time to forged a trusting relationship with people who share a common vision -- keeping our schools safe and educating our school staff on emergency preparedness. It is not always easy to let first responders in your school and have them tell you what you need ...more »

Written plans are a component of the Emergency Management programs, They should reflect the community, or organizations measure that are in place to deal with risk, and provide continuity where turnover is high. They are valuable training tools that provide guidance for the development of other parts of the program. (Canton, 2007, p. 196)

We just launched our latest m911 app, vicinity based alert notifications that will allow schools, churches, neighborhoods, communities or just a single family and their immediate neighbors to receive alerts whenever an emergency is occurring in their vicinity allowing them to respond appropriately. We are also channeling online safety and preparedness education of citizens.

In these times when resources and funding are so limited I feel houses of worships and schools should focus their emergency planning on coordination efforts with other like institutions as well as community organizations. Schools must approach disaster preparedness (eg. active shooter training) from a whole community perspective and integrate training for staff as well as awareness courses for students. These could ...more »

Creating model plans for Higher Education would be beneficial for many. However, it can't be forgotten that universities with resident students are a hybrid of municipalities and educational institutions. Complete PROGRAMS need to be created. Using a combination of resources like NFPA 1600 and CTG 101 has been very useful. Suggest that training teams be created to visit interested colleges and universities to assist ...more »

First, controlling access to schools and other facilities has been conveyed in parts of other posts and comments, so thank you for bringing it up! Although I am not an expert in the subject, I thought this idea deserving of its own post. My take is, it is a good starting point for larger talks around security and should probably be discussed during planning as a mitigation technique. I do not believe access control ...more »

Emergency planners tend to complicate things and develop elaborate plans. Whatever plans are developed they need to be simple. Simple drills, simple checklists, simple actions.

Emergency planners are also very good at planning in a vacuum. You cannot do it alone! You must include parents and parishioners as a valuable asset in emergency planning.

A comprehensive Emergency Management Plan for schools, higher university and/or church/faith-based institutions should include resources/approach to manage stress for crisis response professions and community members. Two examples of resources to incorporate into an Emergency Management Plan are: A Guide to Managing Stress in Crisis Response Professions provides a framework for stress management strategies for crisis ...more »

I attended the K-12 Multihazard Emergency Planning for Schools program training at FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. It provided an excellent detailed roadmap for collaboration with community stake holders,including emergency responders, health, business and private organizations. Over 10 school districts in our state have attended this week-long training and have found that it ignites involvement and awareness as ...more »

Every school or learning institution can have a formal plan of action. The problem with plans are they always go down the drain. I learned this in the Military. The training we received was so dry and boring sometimes looking back. Most importantly drilling and repetition is the perfect plan.It is human nature to freeze up in desperate times, but with so much practice it becomes second nature. We need the teachers and ...more »