subject: Emergency Preparedness Training for Schools [print this page] Emergency Preparedness Training for Schools
With the unpredictability of life as well as of life-endangering events, no place can be considered as 100% safe. Whether it's your home or your children's school, safety of your children is not guaranteed anywhere. While your children receive your care and are under your supervision at your home, they also need to be trained for emergency preparedness to face any emergencies when you are not around. Undoubtedly, it becomes a responsibility of the parents as well as the teachers to prepare the students for any emergencies. Specifically, it's the responsibility of the school staff to train students to survive disasters while in school. Here is how they can do it the best way:
Fire fighting training: School's staff should conduct regular fire drills and notice the response time and behavior of students during the fire drills. During the fire drills, students should be taught about using various kinds of fire extinguishers, saving their own and others' lives during fire, and using fire and rescue kits.
Tornado/Earthquake drills: Students should be informed about a safe area in or around the school. They should be informed about correct usage of the earthquake kits, food and water supplies etc. They should also be told about the components of safety kits and emergency kits and their correct usages. Rescue drills may be conducted to allow the students to have a first-hand experience of how should they respond to any disastrous situation like earthquakes or tornado's.
Intruder drills, lock down drills etc.: Various similar drills may be conducted in order to make the students aware of emergency situations like intrusion or a lock down etc. They should be taught how they can intelligently handle the situation in case such an event occurs.
In addition to conducting various kinds of drills and rehearsals of emergency survival exercises, students also needs to have access to school emergency kits, safety kits, and any other kinds of disaster kits. Of course, knowledge of their usage should be made a part of the drills as well.
