School emergencies are unexpected, unpredictable, and can take many forms. When developing school safety plans, Emergency Response Teams develop protocols to address threats or hazards specific to their school. This quick and easy reference guide is for immediate response and is not a complete school safety plan. This quick reference guide uses FEMA’s four categories of school related emergencies:
No one can be fully prepared for everything that may happen, but planning and practice are essential to determining how people will react in a crisis or emergency.
This document is a companion to the Emergency Management Resource Guide (a template for school safety planning). Faculty, staff and students should familiarize themselves with its content and keep it readily accessible at all times.
References
Emergency Management Resource Guide. Kentucky Center for School Safety, 2016. Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans. FEMA, 2013.
Staff actions:
Principal or designee actions:
These materials offer a starting point when addressing possible school-violence, but are not intended to be a script or to be implemented in rote fashion. At all times it is expected that school personnel will use professional judgment in assessing and addressing potential threats to safety. It is essential to use “warning signs” and other materials responsibly. The process described herein offer an opportunity to help maintain school safety by identifying and referring individuals who need help. They are not intended to encourage school-wide student profiling, labeling or stigmatizing of individuals.
In the event of an IMMEDIATE danger:
If “warning signs” are observed, but there is not an imminent risk:
In the event of a Bomb Threat to the school or facility:
Staff actions:
Principal / Designee:
*Security scan – visually inspecting a familiar area for an unfamiliar object(s)
Staff Actions:
Principal, team:
Staff Actions:
Principal / Designee:
When a school is notified that a rape or other sexual abuse may have occurred, the Emergency Response Team, the District’s Support Team and school personnel must protect the identity and right to privacy of the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator. It is absolutely mandatory that all information related to the incident be kept confidential. Refer all questions to local law enforcement.
Rape / Sexual Abuse is a crisis to be addressed in the following manner:
Hinting, writing, or talking about suicide is a call for help and must be taken seriously. When confronted with a situation in which life-threatening behavior is present, immediate mobilization of all appropriate resources is paramount. Under such conditions, commitment to student confidentiality is superseded by the need to initiate lifesaving intervention(s).
The following classifications offer three (3) levels of suicide risk with students:
Suicide Attempt at School
In the event of an actual suicide attempt:
Staff Actions:
Principal / designee, counselor:
These materials offer a starting point when addressing possible school-violence, but are not intended to be a script or to be implemented in rote fashion. At all times it is expected that school personnel will use professional judgment in assessing and addressing potential threats to safety. It is essential to use “warning signs” and other materials responsibly.
Staff action:
Principal / Designee:
Possible Symptoms:
Skin irritation or itching, rash, hives, nasal itching or sneezing, localized swelling, swollen tongue, restlessness, sweating, fright, shock, shortness of breath, vomiting, cough, hoarseness
Staff First Actions:
Principal / Designee:
Chemical accidents may originate inside or outside building. Examples include: toxic leaks or spills caused by tank, truck, or railroad accident; water treatment/waste treatment plants; industry or laboratory spills, etc.
Accidents originating OUTSIDE the building:
Staff actions:
Principal / Designee:
Accidents originating INSIDE the building:
Staff actions:
Principal / Designee:
Principal / Designee, staff:
Preventative Measures:
Immediate Actions:
Preventive Measures:
Crash INTO school Building
Staff Actions:
Principal / Designee:
Crash NEAR school Building (but no damage to building)
Staff Actions:
Principal / Designee:
Each school should maintain a bus folder (hard copy and/or digital) for each bus serving the school. This folder should contain rosters, including an emergency telephone number for each student assigned to ride the bus. The teacher in charge of a special activity trip should prepare trip bus folders, one copy of the student manifest should be placed in the trip folder and a second copy should accompany the teacher on the trip (this procedure can be housed digitally allowing for immediate access and accountability using the district’s intranet).
Bus drivers should have designated procedures for handling emergency situations. The following protocol is intended to outline steps to be taken by school personnel should an accident occur.
In the event of a Bus Accident:
Staff at the scene:
Principal / Designee:
Staff Actions:
*Remember you may not search electronic devices without owner permission or a court order
Principal / Designee:
By law, schools practice fire drills on a monthly basis. In case of an actual fire, implement the practiced evacuation procedures and the following steps:
In the event of a fire:
Principal / Designee:
See drill schedule and log sample in Emergency Management Resource Guide
All school personnel, including cafeteria managers and custodians, report any suspected gas leak to the principal immediately.
Staff Actions:
Principal / Designee:
Because earthquakes can strike without warning, the immediate need is to protect lives by taking the best available cover. All other actions must wait until the tremors subside. If persons are protected from falling objects, the rolling motion of the earth may be frightening but may not be dangerous.
If inside:
If outside:
Assembly Areas:
Watches: Indicate that conditions are right for development of a weather hazard. Watches cover a larger area than Warnings. Watches usually have lead times of approximately 1-2 hours (tornado or thunderstorm), 3-12 hours (flash flood), and 12-36 hours (river flood or winter storm).
Warnings: Indicate that a hazard is imminent and the probability of occurrence is extremely high. Warnings are issued based on eyewitness reports or clear signatures from remote sensing devices (radar, satellite). Warnings usually have lead times of approximately 30 minutes or less (for thunderstorm type events), and 6-18 hours (for river floods and winter storms). The NOAA Radio should be programmed on hand held radios and/or digital Wi-Fi enabled devices. If electricity were lost weather information would still be available. If generators are not available, alternative energy sources such as solar or crank may be used.
Advisories: Issued when weather is expected to disrupt normal routines, but is not expected to be life threatening (e.g., 2-3 inches of snow, dense fog, etc.). Advisory lead times are the same as Warnings.
Upon Issuance of a Watch or Advisory
Principal / Designee:
Upon Issuance of a Warning
Principal / Designee:
Universal Emergency Procedures are a set of standard, clear directives that may be implemented across a variety of emergency situations. When an emergency begins, the principal, as Incident Commander, will decide which Universal Emergency Procedures to implement, based on the situation.
There are six basic procedures which can be utilized in responding to various emergencies:
1 – Evacuation
2 – Reverse Evacuation
3 – Severe Weather Safe Area
4 – Shelter in Place
5 – Lockdown
6 – Drop, Cover and Hold
Date____________________
Time of call____________________
What telephone number was the bomb threat received on? ____________________What time is it set for?____________________
WWhere is it? ____________________
What does it look like? ____________________
Why are you doing this?____________________
What is your name? ____________________
Additional Information (check/fill in):
Gender: ___Male ___Female
Describe ____________________
Age: ___Adult ___Child
Describe/estimate age____________________
Speech: ___Normal ___Excited
Describe ____________________
Speech: ___Slow ___Fast
Describe ____________________
Did the caller have an accent?
Describe: ____________________
Did you recognize the caller’s voice?
Describe: ____________________
Background noises: ___music ___traffic ___machine ___voices/talking ___
airplanes ___typing ___children ___TV/radio
other ____________________
Other Notes: ____________________
Name ____________________ Home Phone _____________________
Address ____________________
Notification:
School Principal ____________________
Time____________________
Police ____________________
Time____________________