A.  CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

The School Crisis Response Team, under leadership of the principal, is responsible for the following:
1. Establishing a protocol for dealing with crises and critical incidents.
2. Establishing a systematic approach for identifying, referring, and intervening with students identified as at-risk for suicide or other destructive behaviors.
3. Orienting staff to procedures and training to fulfill designated roles, including conducting drills.
4. Providing information to students, staff, and community on Crisis Management referral procedures.
5. Providing assistance during a crisis in accordance with designated roles; providing follow-up activities.
6. Conducting debriefing at the conclusion of each crisis episode to critique the effectiveness of the building�s Crisis Management Plan.
7. Conducting periodic reviews and up-dating of the Crisis Management Plan; conducting related updated staff training.
 

B.  DUTIES OF MEMBERS OF CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM

Duties of members of the crisis response team are as follows:

A. The Principal/Designee will coordinate and supervise emergency management activities at the school. Assignments include:
    1. Continuity of administration.
    2. Development of a comprehensive school emergency management program.
    3. Designation and training of a school Crisis Team.
    4. Designation of an Emergency Operations Center or command post (may be changed by responsible county public safety officials.)
    5. Monitor developing situations such as weather conditions or incidents in the community that may impact the school.
    6. Keep county officials, division staff and school personnel informed of developing situations and initiate emergency notifications and warnings.
    7. Direct emergency operations until public safety officials arrive on scene. Serve as a liaison to public safety personnel once they arrive on the scene.
    8. Implement evacuation procedures and measures to control access to affected area.
    9. Authorize the release of information to the public.
    10. Coordinate use of building as public shelter for major emergencies occurring in the county.
    11. Provide damage assessment information to the Superintendent of Schools. In major emergencies, damage assessment information will be forwarded to
               the Emergency Services Coordinator for determination of local emergency status and request for federal assistance.
    12. Coordinate disaster assistance and recovery.

B. The Crisis Team is trained in intervention and postvention procedures. Team members include the principal, counselor, and teachers � assign the appropriate     staff.  The Team has responsibility to:
    1. Develop and implement procedures for prevention, intervention and postvention at all grade levels.
    2. Establish a systematic approach to identifying, referring and assessing students at risk of suicide or other behavior that would endanger themselves or others.
    3. Disseminate information to students, staff and community on referral procedures.
    4. Provide training for teachers and staff. Conduct drills.
    5. Assist the Principal in controlling emergency situations.

C. Teachers are responsible for implementing appropriate procedures to protect students. These responsibilities include:
    1. Evacuation � Prepare classroom emergency kit. Direct and supervise students en route to pre-designated safe areas within the school or to an off-site
            evacuation shelter.
    2. Student assembly � Maintain order while in student assembly areas.
    3. Student accounting � Verify the location and status of every student. Report to the principal or designee on the condition of any student that needs additional
            assistance.
    4. Establish a partner system to pair teachers and classes so that some teachers can assist with other tasks such as first aid, search and rescue, or community
            relations.
    5. Remain with assigned students throughout the duration of the emergency, unless otherwise assigned through a partner system or until every student has been
            released through the official �student release process.�

D.  Public Information Officer (PIO) � The school staff will release information to the parents and to the general public only through a designated PIO. This may be the Superintendent of Schools, principal or other designated individual. Duties include:
    1. Identify a potential �news center� site away from emergency operations where media representatives can receive briefings.
    2. Prepare public information kit including identification, maps, supplies, signs, forms, sample news releases, battery-powered radio, school information, etc.
    3. Collect, verify and disseminate information to the media. Coordinate information with on-site command and the administration PIO prior to release. In
            cooperation with local public safety officials, considers establishing a Joint Information Center �JIC� to ensure coordination of information being distributed.
    4. Establish regular time schedule for news briefings and periodic updates.
    5. Provide information in appropriate format for the general public including a format for sensory impaired or non-English speaking persons, if needed.

E. Office Manager (Secretary) � The administrative secretarial staff has primary responsibility for emergency communications including exchange of information with school administration staff, community emergency responders (fire, police, EMS, emergency services coordinator) and internal communication within the school building. Primary responsibility for record keeping also lies with this position.
    1. Establish procedures for emergency communications with school administration staff in compliance with school system plans.
    2. Establish internal emergency communications including provisions for two-way communications with classrooms and with classes on the playground or other
            sites.
    3. In an emergency, establish and maintain communications with school administration.
    4. Establish and maintain communications with county emergency services coordinator, as needed in major emergencies.
    5. Initiate and maintain incident log.
    6. Receive and maintain student accounting forms. Take appropriate action to notify medical or search teams through 9-1-1 or sheriff�s office.
    7. Report status of school and students to school administration as specified.

F. Assistant Principal/Designee � All tasks related to student accounting and student release.
    1. Establish procedures for assessing and reporting status of students in an emergency or any event that results in evacuation or relocation of students.
    2. Provide instruction and practice to all teachers and staff in the student assessment and reporting process.
    3. Place reporting forms and procedures in classroom �emergency kit.� Establish procedures for communicating with teachers.
    4. In an emergency, receive reports from all teachers on the condition and location of every student.
    5. Assign persons to investigate reports of any students missing, injured or ill, or otherwise not in compliance with student accounting reports.
    6. Implement student release procedures.

G. Maintenance � The Maintenance staff is familiar with the operations and infrastructure of the school building and is responsible for the stabilization of the building, controlling access, and securing the school facilities.
    1. Inventory all hazardous materials, portable and fixed equipment, and utility lines in or near the school.
    2. Establish procedures for isolating hazardous areas.
    3. In an emergency, survey damage and structural stability of buildings and utilities and report to the principal.
    4. Search the affected sections of the school for students or staff that may be confined or injured; however, do not put yourself or others at risk. This task may
            need to be accomplished by trained public safety professionals.
    5. Implement building access control measures.
    6. Secure student assembly areas.
    7. Distribute supplies to student assembly areas.
    8. Assist county officials in damage assessment.
    9. Assist administrators in recovery procedures.

H. Librarian and staff, including volunteers, have responsibility for coordinating
 logistics (personnel and supplies). Duties include:
    1. Pre-determine skills of staff, school volunteers, and interested parents or neighbors.
    2. Establish record keeping and inventory systems.
    3. Distribute supplies.
    4. Register and assign adult and student volunteers.
    5. Coordinate information about volunteers and donations with Superintendent�s officer.
 

C.  CRISIS RESPONSE PROCEDURES

INTENT:   Crisis Response Procedures are intended to guide staff in responding to more frequently occurring crises such as deaths of students or teachers and other traumatic events, which can affect the school community for days. These procedures are intended to be time-limited, problem-focused interventions designed to identify and resolve the crisis, restore equilibrium, and support productive responses.

Unanticipated events, such as suicides, school bus crashes, natural disasters, or multiple injuries or deaths, can quickly escalate into a school-wide catastrophe if not dealt with immediately and effectively.  Knowing what to do if such a crisis occurs will minimize the chaos, rumors, and the impact of the event on the other students. As a reminder, for the purposes of this manual, crisis is defined as:

A sudden, generally unanticipated event that profoundly and negatively affects a significant segment of the school population and often involves serious injury or death.

The following procedures should be implemented if a school-wide crisis occurs:

1. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING NOTIFICATION OF CRISIS:  The school administrator or designee should implement the following procedures when the school is notified of a near-death or fatal crisis situation:
     A. Tell the person providing the information not to repeat it elsewhere in the school. Explain the school�s need to verify the information and have any
            announcement of the event come from the designated school administrator. If there is concern regarding the likelihood of compliance with this request, it
            may be useful to keep the reporting person in the office (or have that person come into the office if he or she called the information) until appropriate steps
            can be taken.
    B. Tell office staff members NOT to repeat or give out any information within or outside school until specifically instructed to do so. Have them direct all inquiries
            to the administrator or designee until told otherwise. In schools using student office help, it may be useful to request that only adults answer the school
            telephone for the remainder of the day.
    C. In case of reporting student death, verify the reported incident by calling the police liaison or coroner.
    D. DO NOT DISTURB THE AFFECTED STUDENT�S FAMILY.
    E. The timing of the notification of a crisis may alter the order of the initial steps taken. For example, if the school is notified in the morning, all procedures should
            be implemented on that day with emergency faculty meetings scheduled for lunch and after school. If notification is received at night or on the weekend, ask
            the person providing the information not to spread the information further until the situation is verified, and proceed with #3. Continue through the remaining
            general crisis intervention procedures, instructing office staff as appropriate (#2) the following school day.

2. FOLLOWING VERIFICATION OF CRISIS: The following actions are listed in a priority order. In actuality, several things will happen simultaneously. It is critical, however, that #A - J occur BEFORE THE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT, #K, IS MADE.  Once verification of a crisis has occurred, the administrator and/or crisis response team designee(s) must attend to the following:
    A. Notify the Superintendent or other appropriate division administrators of the event. Have that person notify the media liaison if appropriate.
    B. Convene the Crisis Response Team. Do not unnecessarily alarm others, use the coded message developed for these situations (i.e., �CRT members, please
            report to room 5,� or �A CRT meeting will convene in room 5 in 10 minutes.�)
    C. Have an administrative assistant or other designee notify the school�s social worker, psychologist, and/or counselors. If the affected student was in a special
        education or other special program, notify the appropriate program coordinator.
    D. Assign Crisis Response Team members in the building to locate, gather, and inform closest friends of the deceased/injured and provide support. Pull this group
        together before the general announcement is made. If significant others are absent or out of the building, assure that a knowledgeable, supportive adult gives
        the news to them. With parent or guardian consent, have these absent students transported to the school if practical and appropriate.
    E. Prepare a formal statement for initial announcement to the entire school. Include minimum details and note that additional information will be forthcoming. Also
        prepare statements for telephone inquiries.
    F. Decide on a time for an emergency staff meeting and notify staff in a manner, which does not unnecessarily alarm others. Invite designated outside
            professionals to join the meeting to help staff members process their own reactions to the situation.
    G. Identify students, staff and parents likely to be most affected by the news (e.g., due to their relationship to the deceased/injured, recent or anticipated family
            losses, personal history with similar crisis, recent confrontations with the affected student). These persons are targeted for additional support.
    H. Determine if additional district/community resources are needed � or are needed to �stand by� � to effectively manage the crisis, and notify them if
            appropriate.
    I. Assign team members in the building to:
            1) Provide grief support for students in designated building areas. Try to have more than one area available for this purpose. Have the adults on duty in these
                    areas keep lists of students they see. Make sure the parents/guardians of these students are notified regarding the impact of the event on their children.
            2) Review and distribute guidelines to help teachers with classroom discussion.
            3) Stand in for any substitute teacher in the building or for any staff member unable or unwilling to deal with the situation during the announcement and
                    subsequent discussion.
            4) Coordinate and greet all auxiliary support services staff members and take them to their assigned locations. Provide a sign-in/out sheet for them.
            5) Assign a counselor, psychologist, social worker, or other designated staff member to follow a deceased student�s class schedule for the remainder of the
                    day if that will be helpful to teachers in those classes.
    J. Station staff/student support members as planned prior to making the announcement.
    K. Announce the crisis over the public address system or by delivering a typed statement to every classroom before the end of the period. Include locations of
            in-building support.

3. FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE CRISIS  - Once the announcement is made, assigned staff members will perform the following:
    A. Monitor the students leaving the building without permission. Redirect them to support services. If unable to intercept, notify a family member expressing the
            school�s concerns.
    B. Notify parents of students closest to the deceased/injured and ask them to pick up their children at the end of the school day. Implement the plan previously
            developed to handle masses of parents who will pick up their children.
    C. Notify bus drivers � especially those who drive the buses usually traveled in by the injured or deceased student, or who are experiencing the most severe
            shock.
    D. Notify feeder schools regarding siblings or other students predicted to be strongly affected.
    E. Collect deceased student�s belonging from his/her locker or other sites at the end of the day.
    F. Officially withdraw a deceased student from the school attendance.

D.  CRISIS CONTROL CENTER EMERGENCY KIT

The following items are shall be maintained in the designated School Crisis Control Center and carried to any alternate site that may be designated:
    1. Responsibilities checklist � who does what.
    2. Keys to all doors in the school facility.
    3. Floor plan that shows the location of all exits, all telephones and telephone wall jacks, computer locations, and all other devices that may be useful in
            communication during an emergency.
    4. Blueprints and/or floor plan of school building(s), including utilities.
    5. Map of evacuation route(s).
    6. Faculty/staff roster with:
            A. List indicating those with first aid, CPR, and/or EMT training.
            B. List of mobile/cellular telephone numbers.
    7. Crisis response equipment (two-way radio, cellular telephones, fully charged battery operated bullhorn).
    8. Phone lists:
            A. Community Emergency Numbers
                        1) General emergency number � 911
                        2) Police Department/Sheriff
                        3) Rescue/Ambulance
                        4) Fire Department
                        5) Poison Control Center
                        6) Local Hospitals
            B. School Numbers:
                        1) Central Office telephone and fax numbers
                        2) List of portable telephones and beeper numbers of division staff
                        3) Extension numbers for school security, guidance services and other  support staff.
            C. Other Resource Numbers:  Home/work telephone numbers of parent networks, school volunteers, local clergy, and other resources previously identified.
    9. Student roster including home and emergency phone numbers.
    10. Master schedule.
    11. Name tags and sign-in sheet for crisis response team members and community resource people.
    12. Sample statements/letters for use in notifying faculty, students, and parents about crisis incident.

E.  CLASSROOM CRISIS RESPONSE BAG

Each classroom and gymnasium should be equipped with a crisis response bag. The bag should be hung from the inside doorknob or other conspicuous location. At a minimum, the bag should contain:
    1.  A flashlight
    2.  Spare batteries
    3. Class rosters for each class using the room
    4. Emergency evacuation plans
    5. Disposal non-latex gloves
    6. First aid supplies (bandages, gauze, etc.)
    7. Pen and paper
    8. Names and telephone numbers of crisis intervention team members
    9. List of assigned roles for school personnel and division personnel.

F. CRISISES REQUIRING LIMITED SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

CRISES OCCURING DURING SUMMER OR HOLIDAY PERIODS:  If a school administrator or other crisis response team member is notified of a crisis during the summer (or when affected students are off-track if they attend year-round schools), the response usually will be one of limited school involvement. In that case, the following steps should be taken:
    1. Institute the phone tree to disseminate information to Crisis Response Team members and request a meeting of all available members.
    2. Identify close friends/staff most likely to be affected by the crisis. Keep the list and recheck it when school reconvenes.
    3. Notify staff or families of students identified in # 2 and recommend community resources for support, as appropriate.
    4. Notify general faculty/staff by letter or telephone with appropriate information.
    5. Provide update at faculty meeting held prior to students� return to school.
    6. Be alert for repercussions among students and staff. When school reconvenes, check core group of friends and other at-risk students and staff, and institute
            appropriate support mechanisms and referral procedures.

Crises that occur during vacation or when students are off-track require fewer responses from the school.

G. CARING FOR THE CARETAKERS

1. DEBRIEFING:  The demands of responding to a crisis are intense and place the caretakers, regardless of training or previous experience, under a great deal of stress. It is strongly recommended that crisis team members who have been involved in a crisis have the opportunity for �debriefing,� preferably with a trained crisis team from another school. For team members, the debriefing is an opportunity to express feelings and receive emotional support; for the other team, the debriefing is an opportunity to learn and to become better prepared for crises.

2. SYMPTIONS OF REACTION TO CRISIS OR DISASTER IN ADULTS
    A. First Reactions:
            1) Numbness, shock, difficulty believing what has occurred or is in the process of occurring. Physical and mental reactions may be very slow or confused.
            2) Difficulty in decision-making. Uncertainty about things; it may be difficult to choose a course of action or to make even small judgment calls.
    B. Ongoing Reactions:
            1) Loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, loss of interest or pleasure in everyday activities.
            2) Desire to get away from everyone � even family and friends.
            3) Emotional liability - becoming irritable or upset more quickly than usual.
            4) Feelings of fatigue, hopelessness, helplessness.
            5) Digestive problems; headaches or backaches.
            6) Difficulty accepting that the crisis has had an impact or accepting support from friends and the community.

3. HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS � Some things that can be helpful for Crisis Team and other school staff:
 �  Take time to relax and do things you find pleasant. Getting away for a few hours with close friends can be helpful.
 �  Stick with your regular routine for a while; avoid making changes, even if it appears to be a positive change.
 �  Get regular exercise or participate in a regular sport; activity soothes anxiety and helps you relax.
 �  Keep your days as simple as possible; avoid taking on any additional responsibilities or new projects.
 �  Tap sources of assistance with your workload � have students, instructional assistants, or volunteers help grade papers, take care of copying, or help with other time-consuming tasks.
 �  If symptoms of stress persist beyond a few weeks or are severe, seek professional help.

4. POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS REACTIONS
 

PHYSICAL	COGNITIVE	EMOTIONAL
Nausea	Slowed thinking	Anxiety
Upset stomach	Difficulty making decisions	Fear
Tremors (lips, hands)	Difficulty in problem solving	Guilt
Feeling uncoordinated	Confusion	Grief
Profuse sweating	Disorientation (especially to Place & time)	Depression
Chills	Difficulty calculating	Sadness
Diarrhea	Difficulty concentrating	Feeling hurt
Chest pain (should be checked at hospital)	Difficulty naming common objects	Feeling  abandoned
Rapid heartbeat	Seeing the event over & over	Worry about others
Rapid breathing	Distressing dreams	Wanting to limit contact with others
Increased blood pressure	Poor attention span	Anger
Headaches		Irritability
Muscle aches		Feeling numb
Sleep disturbance		Startled
		Shocked

H.  MEDICAL PROTOCOLS

The Department of Health Services develops medical protocols for all students whose medical conditions require or may require assistance of school personnel. Classroom teachers and other staff who work directly with these students are provided information about the condition and a protocol to follow.  Conditions, which are almost always present in the student population and may require assistance, include asthma, allergies, diabetes, and epilepsy.

I.  FORMS

On the following sample forms are available in APPENDICES for use in implementing the Crisis Management Plan:
1. SCHOOL CRISIS TEAM
2. DESIGNATION OF STAFF ASSIGNMENTS/ACTIVITY SITES
3. STAFF WITH SKILLS IN MEDICAL CARE; BI/MULTILINGUAL STAFF MEMBERS; STAFF MEMBERS WITH CELLULAR PHONES
4. STAFF/STUDENTS WHO NEED SPECIAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN EVACUATION
5. CRISIS CHECKLIST:  DAY 1
6. CRISIS CHECKLIST:  DAY 2
7. STUDENT EMERGENCY RELEASE FORM
8. SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION LIST
9. EVACUATION PARTNER SCHOOL/FACILITY
 

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