Many schools are thinking
about conducting a training exercise or MCI (Mass Casualty Incident)
simulation as part of their crisis response planning. If done properly,
they can be an invaluable learning tool that builds confidence and the
sense of security in the schools' ability to continue to keep children
safe. If not done properly, they can create negative publicity, feelings
of failure and worst of all, traumatize students, staff and the community.
A good consultant or project coordinator experienced in both training
exercises and school crisis response can help ensure success.
Police departments, fire
departments, airlines and other agencies have been using simulated exercises
as training tools for a long time. Schools, on the other hand, are just
starting to include them in their training programs. Since they are
new to school systems, some words of caution are in order. The first
priority has to be the safety of the children, both physically and psychologically
so care must be taken as to how the exercise is designed and executed.
The second priority is to realize that the exercise is not an end in
and of itself. It is only one step in a crisis response planning process
that begins with formulating a written plan, testing components of that
plan thru the exercise and then taking the lessons that were learned
and revising the plan to make it better.
If a school system decides
to host an exercise, the first step is to identify what you want to
gain. The purpose of any exercise is to test components of your plan.
For instance, you may decide you want to test your systems for evacuating
students, accounting for everyone on campus and the ability to coordinate
with local community responders in an emergency. To do this, decide
on a scenario that will overwhelm your system and test those elements.
Even though a scenario of
a gunman in your school would test a variety of systems, so would an
explosion in a chemistry classroom or cafeteria. The gunman scenario
is not recommended because it implies to the community that you may
see this as a likely happening and it can be more traumatizing to students
and staff than is necessary. The use of a gunman on campus as the scenario
only adds to the current climate of fear and paranoia about children's
safety. Just the local SWAT team has elements that can only be tested
with this scenario. A school can learn just as much from another scenario,
and if a gunman ever invades a campus, the lessons learned from the
training exercise will be applicable. If you are interested in how the
SWAT team responds to a situation, call your local police department
and ask if you can observe one of their training exercises being held
elsewhere. They are usually willing to accommodate requests from school
administration. There is a training center in Huntington Beach, California,
for example, that hosts training exercises for fire and police and would
be very glad to arrange for a tour.
If you feel it is imperative
to create a gunman scenario, then careful planning is in order. Consider
doing it outside of regular school hours so as not to traumatize students
or give information to those marginal students who might find this an
exciting way to get information on how the SWAT team would work. Also
pick your "actors" very carefully and consider using professional theater
groups or others who fully understand that this is a mock situation.
Prepare the school Crisis Response Team and the staff for what they
will see, feel and experience. Consider informing the neighborhood that
this is a training exercise by placing sandwich board type signs on
the corners and on the school campus. As with any scenario, it is crucial
that you perform a diffusing or debriefing of all involved to allow
them to ventilate the strong emotions that will be created just by being
a part of the drill. The drill should be handled as a low keyed exercise
and not involve the media. By the very nature of it being a media event,
the sensationalism will build beyond a training event. Emphasize the
lessons learned and how the plan will be revised to keep kids even safer
than they already are.
For a full scale simulation
to be effective, the school must invite others to be involved. The other
agencies that might be considered are police, fire, hospitals, ambulance,
media, chaplains, red cross, county office of emergency services, mental
health, city transportation, neighboring schools, churches, and local
businesses. Not everyone you invite will participate but many agencies
are required to hold drills and would welcome the chance to work with
a school population. If you only get one or two other agencies to participate,
your drill can still be a valuable learning experience.
The drill should not be held
until you have a plan to test. This may sound like common sense and
yet there have been those schools systems that have tried to do a drill
before their planning was complete. The drill couldn't test what wasn't
in place yet. Once the plan is written, the school Incident Management
Team from the simulation site must be familiar with their respective
roles and responsibilities. The purpose of the drill is to test the
plan, not the team, and care needs to be taken not to set up the people
on the team to fail. The lead consultant or coordinator should have
a primary agenda of making the team look good. The point is to find
some vulnerability in the plan and caution needs to be taken to insure
that individuals are not made to feel unsuccessful. If an exercise does
not find areas that need to be rethought or reworked, than the exercise
probably was too scripted or controlled and didn't mirror a realistic
situation. A real crisis is unpredictable and there is always something
that could have been done differently.
The other agencies that you
invite to participate will need to have some say in the scenario and
the way the exercise is conducted. They also have certain elements they
will want to test. Keep in mind though, these agencies are involved
in crisis daily, that is their job, and may need to be reminded of the
fact that what is commonplace to them, may be traumatizing or inappropriate
for your students or staff.
As you are planning your
MCI, understand that there will be several actions happening at once.
It is critical that you plan a campaign to prepare the community and
your students for the simulation. The entire staff needs to be trained
in how to talk to the kids about the practice drill so they can reinforce
that it is "only pretend". Activities for the students need to be held
prior to the drill to help them understand that even though it isn't
real, the emotions they may feel and the reactions they may have need
to be talked about and dealt with. For elementary age students, one
school district used an assembly with a clown talking about the drill
and the importance of talking about reactions as a way of preparing
students. The same clown did another assembly the day after the drill
to again reinforce that even though the drill was pretend, it's OK to
have been scared or nervous. For older students other preparation activities
would be appropriate.
The people chosen to play
a role in the simulation need special care to prepare them and keep
them safe during the exercise. The role players should be hand picked
with attention paid to who has experienced a loss or emotional situation
in their own lives recently and their ability to separate fact from
fiction. The students chosen should be informed of their roles and taught
how to react. A few games of charades helps kids learn how to simulate
injuries. The adults need to be given direction to help them successfully
play the role you've given them. All role players are given an "opt
out" word that the training team, the emergency responders and others
know means "I quit". A word such as jelly bean works well because it's
not a word that logically would be said in a crisis situation. If anyone
feels threatened during the exercise and wants to stop playing, this
gives them that added safety valve.
Parents of the role playing
students need to be informed of the expectations and possible reactions
and permission slips must be signed. It is recommended that students
not be allowed to role play unless their parents attend an informational
meeting ahead of time. All role players should sign a consent form that
allows them to be video taped for training purposes.
The school counseling staff
should be involved in the planning, preparation and follow up of the
drill. All students, staff, team members and observers should have an
opportunity to talk about the exercise before they leave for the day.
Immediately following the exercise, all classrooms should be given writing
or drawing prompts to help students talk about what they felt and what
they learned. It is not uncommon for the majority of the students to
write about how boring it is to be evacuated and kept on the playground
away from the action. This is as it should be. For the students and
adults involved in role playing, a formal diffusing process should be
done. This is one of the many activities of Critical Incident Stress
Management specifically for school systems.
The community needs to be
informed of the event and prepared for the lights, sirens and chaotic
scene when the exercise is unfolding. Not everyone who lives near a
school has children in attendance so it is important to not only send
notes to parents but to find other ways of notifying the community.
A few days before the exercise, a corps of parent volunteers or a high
school community service class may want to walk the neighborhood in
a 5 square block area and place flyers on every door. Good notification
will prevent the elderly lady down the street from thinking it is real
and having a stroke from the fear. Plan from the beginning how you are
going to learn from the experience and solicit feedback from those involved.
Station designated Recorders in strategic places to observe and record
various functions. For instance, if you are testing your ability to
evacuate students, a Recorder would be stationed near the bus pick up
location and make notes on how the process went with particular attention
to the time that various activities happened. The Recorders and the
other member of the training team should be clearly designated with
brightly colored shirts, vest, or hats. Within a day or two of the drill,
a Facilitated Feedback session will help critique the experience. Invite
a representative from the other agencies involved and any observers
to attend and give suggestions for how the plan can be improved. One
of the most valuable questions you can ask is "What worked?". If you
video taped the drill, and it is highly recommended that you do, use
this as part of the critiquing session. Remember, you are testing and
critiquing the plan, not the team or the individuals.
Revising the plan is the
final step in this process. That's why you put the energy and resources
into doing it in the first place. Write the revisions and hope you never
have to use the lessons you learned in a real crisis but be assured
that you are much better prepared for even the small crisis that may
be just around the corner.
Continue to monitor students
and others for emotional fallout. Although it is rare for a properly
executed drill to have long term emotional affects, it is advisable
to watch for adverse reactions of students or staff.
Once the drill is over,
give yourselves a pat on the back for being willing to add a new tool
to your training arsenal. If it was done from the perspective of the
school with attention to insuring the safety of everyone involved and
an eye to how we make our crisis plan the best it possibly can be, you
will be successful.
Good luck.
