Imagine the aftermath. It was another school shooting. The worst part is that lives were lost and amidst the chaos, you didn’t have a safety plan. Now, this sounds extreme, and it is, but it’s the reality of the world we live in. Could you have prevented this tragedy? This is why you should make a safety plan at school, so you don’t imagine the answer to this question.
Clarity
No matter the emergency, you need to make sure you have clarity. What does that mean, you ask? It means you should have a clear action plan, safety measures in place, and direction for your students or teachers. You should make it clear to them the actions they need to take in an emergency and how they should act. Not being clear could put others’ lives at stake, and that is the opposite of the goal.
In summary, you want these things clear to you and your people: actions, safety measures, and plans. There’s probably more that we could get into but this is the first step, which leads us to the next important thing; preparedness.
Preparedness
If you aren’t prepared for an emergency, you and those around you are at a greater risk of death. Scary! So, how can you prepare? Follow this list for this next step.
- Have a map of the school for everyone to remember the exits
- Plan how to take action in different emergencies for staff and students
- Consult with local law enforcement on what practices are best
There is more you could do but these are a nice start. Your local law enforcement should help a lot! Now we can put it all together, and take action!
Action
Now that you know why having a plan prepares you and gives clarity, you can put it into action. Here’s a brief summary of ways to “take action” (depending on the emergency, some may work better than others):
- Hiding in a locked room with the lights off and a barricaded door
- Making quiet and fast exits when all is clear and no threat is present
- Practice different drills per emergency to ensure everyone knows the proper reactions
These couple of things should help you get an idea of how to prepare and how to act in certain emergency threats. For more information on emergencies, read our blog on Steps to Take in an Emergency. Make sure to also read our blog on Steps To Take In An Active Shooter Emergency for more information on active shooter topics.
What’s next?
Your next steps involve execution. One great way you can do this is to put those safety measures you came up with in place. You want lives to be spared, right? Of course! We all want our kids safe, and a safer community. So, how are we going to do that?
Contact Alert Protective Services – this will ensure you have professionals analyzing your safety plan. This is what we do, so we have lots of expert advice we are prepared to give you!
Schedule a safety consultation – we can go over the best ways to keep you, your staff, and your students safe.
Get Alert-Com – this might be one of the most effective ways to keep you and your students safe. Alert-Com is a safety system app that you have easy access to in times of emergencies, plus, it also notifies law enforcement and authorities right away.
Do you have questions about our services or Alert-Com? Give us a call or schedule a consultation today! Let’s make our communities and students safe with a security plan.
