School Safety Communications Takes Priority for First Responders

Cover Story: Mission Critical Communications, August 2008

Public-safety officials must take the lead in communications training for school staff.

By Mike Coleman 

A call from the science lab to the school office evokes the school emergency plan. Mr. Harrison, the school principal, calls 9-1-1 and reports the incident. Mr. Harrison decides how best to manage the incident based on what he learned during incident command system (ICS) training; the planning and training the school conducted during the summer is paying off. The school district went through a risk assessment with leadership teams from all community schools. From that assessment, emergency plans were drawn up and shared among the teams. The schools took a collaborative approach to develop a comprehensive guideline for handling an all-risks approach to school emergencies. Once the plans were drafted, the school's leadership team took staff through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) IS-100.SC, ICS for Educators. FEMA developed the course specifically for schools so they understand the system concepts and language used by first responders and integrate the information into on-site events.

Mr. Harrison explains what happened to the 9-1-1 dispatcher at the city police department. "My science teacher told me they were doing a lab experiment when one of his student's beakers exploded," he says. "Is anyone injured?" asks the dispatcher.

Mr. Harrison says several kids have cuts from glass, several more have burns on their skin and most are coughing. "Do you know what the chemicals were?" asks the dispatcher.

"I am not certain," Mr. Harrison says.

One of the areas identified as a risk by the leadership team were the numerous chemicals used by school staff for maintenance and in teaching science. The local fire department conducted its annual inspections and noted the proper storage of substances. The school staff worked with the local fire and hazardous materials (hazmat) teams to understand the safest means to store the chemicals.

Mr. Harrison deploys staff around the school to secure the area and prepare for responders. He tells the dispatcher that the science lab is in the back of the school, and that staff moved all the students to an adjoining classroom for safe keeping and isolation.

Schools and Communications

Staff tracking and management during an incident are no different than student accountability systems currently in place in schools. Mr. Harrison asks his staff via two-way radios to evacuate the section of the building where the science class is to the auditorium. Teachers are posted outside the building and inside by closed fire doors to prevent entrance to the area. He also tells the dispatcher that the classroom where the students are doesn't have a phone, and the building custodian with the teacher is on a radio if they need anything else.

Mr. Harrison explains that the school resource officer (SRO) is out sick. The dispatcher tells Mr. Harrison that she has dispatched police, fire, EMS and hazmat units to the school. "The EMS units want to know the condition of the students, Mr. Harrison. Are they all still breathing, and how bad are the cuts?" asks the dispatcher.

Mr. Harrison radios the custodian and tries to determine the information. The custodian explains that they are all shaken up and crying. The coughing has subsided, and everyone appears OK. Mr. Harrison again asks about the bleeding, and he hears the fire units over the phone radioing they are arriving on scene.

Mr. Harrison tells the dispatcher that he established the incident command post in the main office per his school security plan and will meet the on-scene commander there. He also tells the dispatcher that the fire truck should go to the east side of the building toward the playing field and look for the teacher outside. "That will put them closer to the doorway," he says. He can't radio the teachers outside the school but they should recognize the fire truck and flag them to the door. The school is beginning to establish the ICS structure learned in training.

Fire and EMS units are now on scene and treating the students. The local hazmat units enter the science classroom. The assistant principal briefs the student body in the auditorium and over the school public address (PA) system. School staff plan to notify parents through their student family messaging system about what happened and that classes will remain in session. Further, they will explain how to pick up their children if they want to. All this communications and coordination was easily done within the unified command structure between the school principal and the police lieutenant who is on scene at the main office. The students from the science class are all being treated at the scene and then prioritized for transport to the local hospital and clinics in the area.

The hazmat team determines that there is no further need for the classroom to be secured, and it's safe for school staff to clean up. The police break down the perimeter, and the fire units return to service. Only a few responders remain at the school as the ICS structure reduces to a few positions. A debrief is scheduled with the school and local agencies for the next day.

The lessons learned are:

1. Familiarity training of the school for local responders needs to be done sooner. Exits should be marked by letters or numbers for quick identification.
   
   
2. A communications plan needs to be established so dispatchers aren't used as relay points, which could introduce delays and misinterpretations. Further updates could be direct from school staff to the responders.
   
   
3. School exercises should be conducted in partnership with local responders to build rapport and skills.
   
   
4. More radios need to be available to staff.

Prioritize School Planning

This scenario wasn't an actual incident, but was based on circumstances seen from real school emergencies throughout the United States. Schools are the cornerstone of our communities, and they have a value in local response plans. Events at schools requiring responses by public safety occur every day. The local first-responder community uses schools for meetings and shelters. School buses are used during emergencies and as mass transportation for citizens, responders or evacuation of incarcerated people. Increased media coverage of schoolbased events places higher scrutiny on educators and the public-safety readiness and response.

School personnel can be viewed as first responders to school incidents because they are already on scene and naturally gravitate to emergencies that occur with their students. This can range from the everyday medical emergency that occurs on a playground to a much more serious event. "Educators and staff play a vital role in the successful resolution of a school situation," says Capt. Tim Moore, Douglas County (Colo.) Sheriff patrol commander. "We entrust our students' minds and safety with our teachers each day. How a school responds to the emergency and what processes they establish can make our job as a first responder more effective. From the time it takes to respond to the scene and do an initial size-up, the staff at the school can have the situation ready for us to seamlessly integrate into."

FEMA's IS-100.SC course should be a required training for all staff in schools, and local first responders should include school personnel in their advanced ICS training because they are all a part of the same community. In reviews of lessons learned from other school incidents, collaboration with local emergency teams and establishing incident command immediately are important. "Seamless integration of ICS with school staff is vital to the effective management and safety of children and staff in any crisis affecting an educational facility," says Rob Brown, fire chief of Stafford County (Va.) Fire and Rescue Department.

Creating comprehensive plans are important. Planning must include knowledge of the school emergency procedures, evacuation points and parent notification methods. And a pivotal area of that planning is communications. During the plan testing, note whether the school phone system has been used to call 9-1-1 and verifications as to location data have been made. Many schools use either multicampus systems or newer VoIP systems that may show a different physical address. Does critical staff in the school have radios to communicate among them? Most classrooms have phones, but if students are moved to an inner shelter location or to the outside, how do staff communicate with teachers' critical messages or the status of the emergency? How does the school communicate with emergency responders to minimize delays?

"Failure to plan is tantamount to planning to fail," says Ken Rost, a professional risk assessment and crisis-planning consultant. "Develop your plan, test it and train your staff on the plan." Local responder planning should include school emergency plans detailing primary and backup communications methods. The ability to talk with school staff while in transit to an emergency saves precious life-saving seconds. Encourage the school to use ICS at an incident as a management tool and train staff in how first responders approach a situation and communicate. School districts should partner with the local responder community and participate in training exercises. "Teachers will feel more comfortable with what emergency teams are doing if they have seen their tactics during training," Rost says.

Partner with your school district; teach educators how to effectively manage their emergency until you arrive. Pre-plan and rehearse your response with them. Establish effective communications methods for all types of responders. Test how they will notify you and update you. School readiness is vital in all times of crises and especially in this day and age.

Mike Coleman is vice president of business development for QDS Communications. He has more than 25 years of service in public safety. This article first appeared as the cover story for RadioResource Mission Critical Communications, August 2008, and is reprinted here by permission of the author. For a color reprint of the magazine article, click the link below.