Page 114 - Security Today, November/December 2018

CAMPUS COMMUNICATIONS
PROACTIVE CAMPUS
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
School officials must develop proactive and strategic response plans By Tony Bradberry
Emergencies occur in educational facilities across the country every day; defined as situations that can nega- tively and significantly impact students, families, officials and communities. In emergency situations, seconds count, so knowing how to immediately identify and respond effectively to any level of emergency is critical.
DEFINING AN EMERGENCY
An emergency is any serious, unexpected, and often dangerous, situa- tion requiring immediate action. Ask any campus official, school administrator or member of the maintenance staff what constitutes an emergency and responses will differ significantly. This is because what is an emergency for one group of individuals may not necessarily be an emergency for another.
Emergencies are relative to the responder of the emergency. For instance, a police officer would certainly consider an active shooter in a school setting an emergency, but would probably not consider a weather-related event or fight inside a school an emergency in the same manner that a school administrator would. Similarly, campus maintenance would have a completely different set of emergencies,
potentially related to mechanical breakdowns, freezer temperatures or server rooms that would not be emergencies to law enforcement or the administrator. While these are all emergencies, they are on a sliding scale, based on the responder.
Emergencies of some type are inevitable and school officials must develop proactive and strategic response plans for all types of emergencies.
BUILDING AN APPROPRIATE PLAN BEGINS
WITH IDENTIFYING EMERGENCIES
Fires, weather events and active shooters are the three most common- ly recognized emergencies that schools face.
Fire. All schools plan extensively for fire emergencies with required monthly fire drills and mandated annual inspections of equipment. Stu- dents are well aware of actions to take in case of fire. Interestingly, it has been 60 years since any K-12 experienced a fatality due to fire, yet every facility has a fire alarm and every school conducts regular fire drills.
Weather Emergencies. Schools also regularly practice for weather emergencies. For instance, campuses in areas that experience torna- dos hold regular tornado drills and often test tornado sirens. Detailed plans are in place and practiced, even though tornadoes are only
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