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August 2007

PREPARING FOR THE UNEXPECTED, PART I

The beginning of the year brings with it the potential for great things. It also brings the potential for unexpected events. While you can’t prevent an unexpected weather event or an emotional reaction, you can prepare for it. In the first part of this two-part e-newsletter, we’ll provide ideas to help you plan for classroom emergencies.

We don’t like to think about them, but medical, evacuation and lockdown emergencies do happen. Planning and practicing for these events – and others - could end up being a lifesaver!

Medical Situations:

Get training. Learn CPR and first aid. Review the procedures periodically and keep your certification up-to-date. If for some reason you are unable to do this, find the nearest first-responder for your classroom and know how to contact them.

Know your students’ health issues. Review students’ medical records. Asthma, food and other allergies, diabetes and epilepsy are just some of the more serious conditions you need to be aware of. Talk with these students and/or their parents to discover any triggers and the best way to help them.

Obtain permission slips. At the first of the year, get parental permission to treat students should a medical emergency arise.

Get emergency cards. Make sure you know who to contact in the event of an emergency. It is not always the parent or guardian.

Teach your students. In the unlikely event something should happen to you while you are teaching, create a procedure for students to follow (call the school nurse, get a teacher nearby, etc.). Add the tasks of your procedure to other daily student-accomplished tasks. For instance, the person in charge of cleanup that day is the one that calls the school nurse should the need arise.

Evacuation Situations:

Keep keys to your desk, room and other areas handy.

Know your school. Be very familiar with your school’s evacuation routes and meeting places, emergency provisions, first-aid supplies and emergency manual. If you have a copy of the manual, keep it in an easily accessible place.

Know where you are. You may know your school’s evacuation route and meeting place, but if you needed to direct emergency personnel to your room, could you do it quickly and succinctly? If you don’t have a telephone in your room, make sure you know where the closest one is.

Account for all students. Before evacuating a class, make sure they are all there. Keep a CLIPBOARD with a class list handy and check each student’s name off the list. Do so again when you get to your designated area. Our WRITE ON! PAPER-SAVER POCKETS will hold your class list and provide a write-on, wipe-off surface you can use over and over.

Ask students to take belongings with them. If students’ bags are nearby, allow them to grab them before leaving the building. If you or your students keep any required medicine in the classroom, make sure you take it with you. Add required medicines to the class check-off list to make sure each student has what he/she needs.

Secure the room. Close and lock the door, close the windows and blinds and turn off the lights. Assign these tasks (among others) to students if you can to establish a sense of normalcy and to help keep them calm.

Inform parents of what to do. Find out if your school has regulations for parent responsibilities in the event of an emergency. Parents need to know when/if they can call the school or their student, where they can pick up or meet their student, what radio station or other form of communication will provide information, etc.

Organize students and parents. In an emergency situation where things can become frantic and students cannot be bused home, it is vital to have a parent/student reunification system so someone with harmful intentions does not take advantage of the situation:
- ask parents to give you a list of anyone, including themselves, authorized to pick up their child from school. Have them obtain signatures of each person and keep them with your emergency cards and permission slips. Ask the person picking up the child to sign for him/her and make sure the signatures match.
- in cases where the parent or guardian sends someone not on the list to pick up their child, be sure to contact the parent or other person on the list if at all possible to verify.

Practice. Schools have established rules for how often emergency drills are to take place. And while most tornado and earthquake drills are only practiced in regions prone to those emergencies, they can happen anywhere without warning. It doesn’t hurt to establish and practice drills or rules in the event those emergencies should occur in your area.

Invite guests. Ask your local fire/rescue and police departments to send representatives to discuss what to do in an emergency, whether at school or at home.

Lockdown/Shelter-in-Place Situations:

Be prepared! In the event your school must institute a lockdown, be sure you have what you need. Our 25-STUDENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE KIT contains water, blankets, batteries, gloves, first-aid supplies, radio, flashlight, sanitation supplies and more – everything you need in an emergency in one five-gallon bucket.

Know your surroundings. If your school’s lockdown procedures indicate you need to close air vents and lock your door, be sure you are able to do both, or make arrangements (if none have been made by superiors) to move to another place that allows you to do so. If your school has a shelter or basement, know the best route and determine if you have time to get there safely.

Know your responsibilities. Who is responsible for distributing emergency provisions? Who is the first person you need to contact? Do you have backup plans in case your door doesn’t lock and/or you can’t safely or quickly transport your students elsewhere? (i.e. moving something heavy in front of the door or moving your students behind a large object).

Don’t take electricity for granted. One unexpected event that can happen even without inclement weather is a power outage. It’s not a difficult task to send children home if the school has no power, but will you be able to contact parents if their power is out? Make sure you have cell-phone numbers, work and emergency numbers, as well as alternate forms of communication (siren, ham-radio network, etc.), especially in rural areas without cell-phone service. Consider battery-operated items:
- Our battery-operated BIG-MOUTH MINI MEGAPHONE creates an instant announcement system.
- Our AMERICAN RED CROSS EMERGENCY RADIO has a hand-crank generator, providing a lifeline to the outside with an AM/FM radio, flashlight, siren, cell-phone charger and more!

Create an emergency folder or binder. This folder could be used by students (in the event something happens to you) or by the substitute teacher. Keep in it written directions to the classroom, the room’s phone number, emergency numbers (including first responders and the school nurse), diagrams of the school and evacuation routes, etc. Keep permission slips, emergency cards and other private student information in a separate area for both you and the substitute. Our LIFETIME BINDERS are ideal.

HOT TIP: Keep backups! Back up your computer at least once a week and save it to a tape or disk. Whenever there is a drill, take your backup disk with you (if you don’t already have one at home). This will help you remember to take it in the event of an actual emergency.

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