Preparing for Severe Weather and Tornados

This last wee’s storms exhibited a tragic reminder of the importance of all-hazards planning. It is all too easy to focus on events like bomb threats, school shootings and overlook severe weather preparedness. While a school is obviously at the mercy of the storm as to where a tornado appears, a great deal can be done to prepare for and mitigate the effects of a tornado or extreme winds.

In the way of preparedness here are some recommended steps that go beyond the standard severe weahter shelter plans:
Pre-Planning
• Work with local emergency management officials to determine severe weather shelter areas
• Consider Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training for select staff
• Conduct drills to test communications (to include mass notificaiton) and movement to shelter assignments
• Preplan evacuation routes and rally points (avoiding power lines) in the event the school becomes damages and unsafe

When Severe Weather is a Possibility:• Assign staff to monitor weather
• Ensure radios (two-way/walkie-talkies and weather radios) are charged and conduct a staff meeting to review plans
• Consider special events, outdoor activities and bus times
When a Severe Weather Watch Occurs:
• Establish an interior command post
• Ask teachers to review severe weather plans
• Increase staff monitoring during transition times and meal periods
• Compare estimated storm impact with release times. Make plans to hold students and communicate with parents.
When a Severe Weather Warning Occurs:•
Enact severe weather plans

Always collaborate with your local response agencies on emergency planning issues.

Stay safe!
Brad

This post is provided by SafePlans (www.safeplans.com), an all-hazards preparedness solution including emergency plans, staff training, and detailed site mapping.

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Columbine. Anniversaries are important – even the bad ones.

On April 20, 1999 two cowards made their way into history by murdering 12 students and a teacher. For most, this anniversary will pass unnoticed. For some, the Columbine anniversary will bring powerful memories of an awful tragedy.

For a very few, the Columbine anniversary will invoke grandiose ideations of violence and immortality that fuel school shooters.

While most attack anniversaries pass without “copy cat” attacks, it is important that school administrators pause to consider the situational awareness of their school.

While it may not be feasible to implement a threat assessment program prior to April 20th, there is plenty of time to ask teachers and counselors if there are any students exhibiting indicators that anyone a concern for their safety or the safety of others. Students exhibiting these indicators need help; whether or not they actually intend on carrying out an attack. Remember the cardinal rule in assessing potentially violent behavior: It is not if the person makes a threat, it is if they pose a threat.

Remember, the cowards at Columbine did not just snap. Theirs was a building process that culminated just one day after the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombings (April 19, 1995).

For those of us that will remember Columbine, let’s remember the victims

• Cassie Bernall
• Steve Curnow
• Corey DePooter
• Kelly Fleming
• Matt Kechter
• Daniel Mauser
• Daniel Rohrbough
• Rachel Scott
• Isaiah Shoels
• John Tomlin
• Lauren Townsend
• Kyle Velasquez
• Coach Dave Sanders

…and never again speak the names of their killers.

This post is provided by SafePlans (www.safeplans.com), an all-hazards preparedness solution including emergency plans, staff training, and detailed site mapping.

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Train the Plan

An untested and untrained plan is little more than theory. After developing school/college emergency plans a training program should be designed to educate students, parents, teachers, staff, crisis team members and administrators in threat assessment procedures, emergency response, management policies and procedures. Once training is implemented, exercises should be conducted to test the plans and training.

Currently, most educational facilities have adopted a training philosophy that embraces performing extremely well under reasonable conditions, rather than performing reasonably well under extreme conditions. For example:

Lockdown, Weather, Earthquake & Fire Drills Deficiencies
Staff has advanced knowledge of the exact time of the drill and the drill occurs when all students are in the classroom.

Solution
After two or three successful drills, limit advanced knowledge to the day of the event and implement the drills during transition times. Note: Avoid conducting drills during meal periods, due to the costs associates with missed lunches. To test response, set up a mock lunch period with students and staff.

Once you have your drills up and running, it is time to conduct training exercises. Tabletop & functional exercises use vivid scenarios, guided by experienced and certified facilitators, to engage participants in discussions of how they would respond to hypothetical events. Tabletops are designed to be a non-threatening and relatively low cost approach to validating capabilities. Use Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) based exercises to explore and validate plans, identify logical or structural conflicts or gaps in those plans and develop specific areas for further study and improvement. Scenario should be coordinated/developed with local emergency management and public safety.

Stay safe

Brad

This post is provided by SafePlans (www.safeplans.com), an all-hazards preparedness solution including emergency plans, staff training, and detailed site mapping.

Click here to learn more about the author

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