Safety Training Is Vital To Keep Schools Ready For A Crisis

By Olive Furnace


All schools strive to offer a welcoming and secure environment for the students. The challenging responsibility of safety training at schools rests in the hands of administrators. They are accountable for the well-being of staff and students.

The position of a school in relation to violence and crime prevention must be analyzed and addressed. Once this is established school authorities need to negotiate with local law enforcement authorities. Together they must formulate a plan to maintain a secure environment.

A post-incident response team must be in place. This must be a combination of school personnel as well as medical experts and mental health counselors. The crisis response and law enforcement personnel need to have easy access to the school facilities. The school must supply them with floor plans and other maps as they need to be familiar with the layout of buildings and surrounding terrain. Communication strategies must be in place for emergency situations. This applies to medical as well as police staff.

Once the team is established, the members must be trained. Regular sessions is a necessity. They can only succeed in their task if everyone knows what their tasks will be in a security emergency. This team must also look at all equipment at the school as evaluate it. If an item is considered to be a risk, those using it should be trained to avoid danger.

Students are very much at risk in any crisis and they should know what to do. Time must be found and set aside for training them to be prepared for different scenarios. Lessons on security should be included in their curriculum. These may include first aid lessons as well as how to prevent and cope with fires.

Safety training at schools is the responsibility not only of the police, but also school administrators. Ensuring security requires teamwork and it is up to the school to set up such a team. In this way loss of life may be prevented when an emergency occurs.




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