Did you know that September is National Preparedness Month?
It is no coincidence that safety has been in the forefront of my mind the past
few weeks. Several situations have occurred at school that have really made me
question how qualified I am to respond to given situations. In the course of
less than seven weeks, I have been involved with:
- A student who fell asleep under a desk during a fire drill
- Riding with a child in an ambulance after an allergic reaction
- Making sure grandparents were listed on our emergency cards before they were allowed to visit for Grandparents' Day and having to turn some away
- Collecting the data that 86 of our 666 students were absent on September 11th mostly because of social media rumors that surrounding county schools would have multiple school shootings that day
In response to the other situations, what can be done to
ensure safety among strangers at school? What kind of registration do you do at
your school and how do you secure the safety of students by allowing visitors
in the building?
I’ve posed several questions here that may seem random, but
what I would like to gather out of this post are ideas that go above and beyond
normal emergency/safety procedures. What great ideas do you have in place for
students with medical issues or people on campus? Please share your thoughts,
suggestions, or ideas about the best practices for handling serious situations. I've found that the Crisis Management and Prevention Information for Georgia Public Schools is a good resource and review for any school that can get bogged down in the daily
chaos and easily forget that emergencies often happen without any notice.
Hey- to answer some questions: your SST/RTI Coordinator and/or nurse should inform you of any medical illnesses students may have- whether it is a 504 or medical directives from the doctor.
ReplyDeleteI would highly urge teachers to ensure that all their students are safe and accounted for.
As far as visitors, if you are not listed in the child's record, we do not allow you to pick up the child. In the event you have the car rider decal, then you can get back in your car and proceed to the car rider line and give them the number.
I do not know too many more procedures we do here. The administration here does a great job at checks and balances of all safety procedures. I think I should inquire about the procedures here. It is important to know.
Check with your district about things like CPR training. In Fulton County there are regular trainings held by the School Health Services nurses to help make sure enough people in the schools are certified in CPR and using the AED's. As for allergies, it seems that what we never concerned ourselves with 30 years ago has now become an epidemic! In one school, each teacher was given a list including a picture of any student in their classroom that had any type of allergy. We were asked to keep it handy, but out of sight of the students. It was good to know what I was dealing with in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteDoes your school have an emergency preparedness plan? If not, it would be a great leadership opportunity for you to head up a task force to create one. If there is one, review it and look for any flaws or concerns. We can never be too careful!
Hey, Kim.
ReplyDeleteIn some schools I have worked, I was provided with a folder for each student who had medical issues; the folder contained an overview of the issue and a plan for what to do in the event that there was an emergency related to the issue. The last few schools in which I have worked merely had a notion in the Student Information System, but no guidance in what to do.
I've worked at a few schools where there were first responder teams comprised of teachers on every hall. That team, in addition to each of the admins, were certified in CPR. Also, some of those schools had emergency defibrillators positioned on each wing of the building.
One school system in which I worked partnered with the GBI in order to develop an emergency preparedness plan. It was definitely rigorous, but thoughtfully planned out. Each of the schools also had doors that you had to swipe into; if students were late coming to school, they had to come in through the front of the building.
Hi Kim,
ReplyDeleteIn my school, we have several teachers that are trained in CPR. Those who are not are given the opportunity to be trained if they want too. As far as allergies and other medical issues, when attendance is taken, or if anyone looks at the student information in the computer, a flag will pop up, where you have to view the information and it will tell you if the student has any medical issues, if they have an IEP or 504, and if there is a person or people not allowed to checkout or see the student. It will be very specific and say court order or call the mother if this person shows up. As far as safety, we must hold everyone accountable and practice the procedures often.