Emergency Management Procedures
Inge Sebyan Black, B.A., CPP, CFE, CPOI Principal consultant and owner, Security Investigations Consulting
Abstract
In today’s school culture, we must plan for every emergency. This chapter provides the guidance necessary to create an emergency management plan. It provides a detailed planning stage list, and touches on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The chapter also lists the procedures that should be included in an emergency operations plan (EOP) along with definitions to be included in emergency management training materials.
Schools are entrusted to provide a safe and secure environment, along with a healthy learning atmosphere. Families and communities expect schools to keep their loved ones and educators safe from all threats, including natural and human-caused emergencies. With the collaboration of their district staff, first responders, public and mental health, local government and community partners, schools should develop a school Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) that is designed for their building’s specific needs. This EOP will play a key role in both preventative measures and protective measures to stop an emergency from occurring or reducing the impact of an incident. The EOP should describe the required actions necessary to protect students, faculty and the public from all threats. The EOP will help school administrators and decision makers prepare for responding to a crisis situation along with identifying all types of emergencies, individual roles, and responsibilities. Preparedness should encompass five specific areas: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. These five areas align with three timeframes associated with an incident: before, during and after. Prevention, protection, and mitigation typically occur before an incident, although any of these can occur through any of the timeframes, while response occurs during the incident and recovery begins during the incident as well as after the incident.
The EOP must be well written, and automated in a clear and logical order. It is recommended that schools writing their emergency plans use concepts and principles recognized by the National Incident Management System (NIMS). One of these components is the Incident Command System (ICS), which provides a standardized approach for incident management, regardless of the type of incident. These practices help to integrate the efforts of first responders and other key emergency management personnel. They will also help school administrators understand the role that responders will be assuming. The emergency plan must be supported by senior level officials. It must also provide for the access and functional needs of the entire school community, including individuals with disabilities and other needs. In addition to those with disabilities, other needs might include religious, racial, and language barriers. Considerations also need to be made for incidents occurring outside of the school day as well as off the school campus (e.g., field trip).
To begin planning for emergencies, a planning team should be created with the responsibility for developing, implementing, and continually updating their EOP. When a team is identified, each person involved in the development and maintenance of the plan should know his or her role and responsibility in the planning process. The planning process should be an ongoing one that is reinforced with regularly planned meetings. At the onset of the planning process, schools must assess their vulnerability by conducting a security threat assessment. Once the assessment is complete, a matrix should be developed to help forecast possible threats.
In the early planning stages, it will be important to identify agenda/action items. The following list is a start, but it is not inclusive and you will want to incorporate other action items specific to your school.
Planning Stage List:
Identify all threats and hazards
Determine goals and objectives
Developing your emergency plan
Liaison, understanding the emergency management structure within your community
Communications/language access
Mutual aid agreements
Continuity of operations
Emergency notification systems
Evacuation procedures/sheltering
Training
Drills/exercises
Process to review and revise the plan
Grief counseling procedures
Media communications
When developing the plan:
• Identify the course of action and determine how and when each response will be implemented
• Determine the amount of response time anticipated
• Develop course of action to ultimately achieve your goals and objectives
Americans with Disabilities Act
Plans must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), among other prohibitions on disability discrimination, through all steps and processes in the emergency management plan, including preparation, testing, notification, alerts, evacuation, sheltering, recover, transportation, and emergency medical care. To comply, the plan must include students, staff, and parents with disabilities. The plan also must address the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication with all individuals with disabilities. The plan must ensure that individuals with disabilities are not separated from service animals and assistive devices and can receive disability related assistance throughout the emergency. Information and technical assistance on the ADA can be found at http://www.ada.gov.
Essential to both the emergency planning process and the response is the section which addresses individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), including parents and students. Plans must comply with legal requirements on language access, including Title VI of the Civil Right Act of 1964 and Title VI regulation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Procedures to include within the EOP include:
• Lockdown procedures. Specifics should identify when to go to a lockdown, which persons make the decision, how it will be announced (over a public address system or other designated system), and by whom. There may be a preselected code word. Provisions for an evacuation should be maintained even in the event of a lockdown.
• Evacuation procedures. Evacuations should be implemented at the discretion of the building administrator or other designee. The plan should include procedures for transporting students and staff to a safe distance away to a designated safe area.
• Sheltering procedures. Sheltering provides refuge for the students, staff, and visitors within the school building in the event of an emergency. This shelter or safe area should maximize the safety of all persons. The area chosen may change depending on the specific emergency.
• Facility diagrams/site plans. These plans should show primary and secondary evacuation routes, exits, designated safe areas, both inside the building and away from the building, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, hoses, and water faucets. These should all be kept on file in the school district office.
• Emergency telephone numbers. Each school should maintain and update all emergency telephone numbers, with names and addresses of local and county personnel who will be involved in any crisis situation. It should include numbers for police, fire, ambulance, hospitals, the poison control center, local, county, and state emergency management agencies, along with the local public works department, local utility companies, the public health office, mental health/suicide contacts, and the county welfare agency. Additional contacts should be listed and updated appropriately.
• Transportation. Maintaining the flow of individuals is critical to minimize panic and injury. Plans for transporting the disabled and handicap staff must be in every plan. Agreements with local support agencies should be made in advance to ensure that when the emergency occurs, transportation is smooth.
• Crisis response teams. This team should be identified by the top management of the school and trained to respond in an emergency. All should be trained on the crisis emergency plan and trained on all procedures, evacuation routes, and safe areas.
The plan should specifically address key issues currently facing crisis teams, such as active shooters and workplace violence. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) goal is to enhance preparedness through a “whole community approach.” The DHS has developed a series of training materials, including some specifically for schools. One such training awareness program is entitled “run, hide or fight,” which encourages individuals to run if there is a safe path available. If it is not possible to run, it encourages individuals to hide. While hiding, if it becomes necessary, the training encourages individuals to work together, through an act of aggression, and with improvised weapons, to fight. Both active shooter and workplace violence incidents are by their nature unpredictable, often spontaneous, and can evolve quickly; there are no patterns or methods, but training should be made to raise awareness of behaviors that represent preincident indicators and characteristics of active shooters. Additional active shooter training is available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including workshops, presentations, webinars, pamphlets, and online training videos.
Discussion on lessons learned, key terms and definitions, and ways that school administrators can work better with law enforcement should also be included in training programs. Knowing the following terms and definitions will assist the crisis team when working with law enforcement:
• Active shooter: a suspect’s actions are immediately causing death and serious bodily injury. The incident is not contained and there is immediate risk of death and serious injury to other potential victims.
• Barricaded suspect: a suspect who is barricaded in a room or a building and is armed and has indicated that he or she will become violent. There may or may not be hostages and there is no indication that the subject’s activity is immediately causing death or serious bodily injury.
• Traditional deployment: a tactical concept where officers maintain a secure perimeter while monitoring the armed suspect and waiting while specially trained units (SEB, SWAT, etc.) arrive at the scene.
• Rapid deployment: the swift and immediate deployment of law enforcement personnel to ongoing, life-threatening situations where delayed deployment might result in death or great bodily injury to innocent victims.
• Dynamic situation: the situation is evolving very rapidly with the suspect.
• Static situation: the suspect appears to be contained.
Training and testing every emergency plan is the key to success. Testing will identify areas of weakness and allow for modifications to the plan. As important are the emergency plan updates and continual audits.