Schoolsafetycrisisplan

Awareness of and apprehension about school violence is nationwide, and more communities across our nation are demanding that schools develop emergency preparedness plans. A significant number of homemade bombs are now appearing on school grounds, in school buildings, and even on school buses, and it is anticipated that these kinds of incidences will continue to increase. Whether the bomb threat is designed merely to disrupt the educational process for one reason or another or whether it is an authentic warning of an actual bomb, school-building officials must always be in a state of readiness.

Many schools around our nation are beginning to implement strategies and procedures on how to react to bomb threats. In the opinion of the authors, there are two important planning components of a bomb threat preparedness plan: Phase One: the development of a bomb threat readiness plan and Phase Two: the implementation of the SEARCH plan.

There are important issues to address in designing a readiness plan so that all members housed in the school facility will be prepared to initiate emergency procedures when a bomb crisis becomes a reality. In order to accomplish this task, the following preplanning steps will need to be accomplished:

compiling, storing, and transporting of those materials needed for an evacuation to a central location

outlining the procedures for receiving a bomb threat

developing notification procedures after receipt of a bomb threat

selecting of alternate locations in case the school must be evacuated for a significant period of time,

preplanning of alternate evacuation routes,

informing parents of the proper release procedures in case of a lengthy evacuation,

selecting and training of a site response team, and

Additional readiness plans can be established by gathering the needed evacuation materials and resources and storing them in one location. These materials would include the emergency evacuation plan, response telephone numbers, emergency release forms for all students in the school, radios, phones, and first aid kits. It is recommended that these materials and resources be stored in a footlocker in a central location such as the principal�s office or secured area. It would be the responsibility of some member of the emergency response team to load the footlocker and transport it to the alternate evacuation site. A checklist of items that could be stored in the evacuation footlocker has been provided in Exhibit 8-2.?

The emergency response supply box should contain the following items for each evacuation team:

1. Bull Horn

2. Cellular Telephone

3. Alternate Evacuation Center Keys

4. First Aid Kit

5. Student Rosters With Emergency Numbers

6. Emergency Release Forms

7. Medical Forms

8. Two Way Radios

9. Evacuation Procedural Manual

10. Crisis Management Guide

11. Emergency Phone Numbers

Even though most bomb threats are pranks, all must be taken seriously because it is often difficult to distinguish a prank call from the real thing. Ignoring a bomb threat or dismissing it as a prank could be disastrous. Most bomb threats are usually received over the telephone. In each case, it is important to remember that good documentation of the event will help law enforcement officials with their follow-up investigation.

Since most bomb threats occur by telephone, anyone whose responsibilities include answering the school telephone should be aware of the proper actions to take. The authors suggest that these guidelines be posted at all school telephone locations, except for school pay phones.

Bomb Threat Guidelines

Keep the caller on the phone as long as possible. Try to identify any particular voice characteristics such as accent, stuttering, pronunciation, or anything that would help identify the speaker. Listen for any background noises that would help to identify the location of the caller.

Ask the caller questions. The more the caller talks, the more he or she will reveal. Ask about the bomb's location, the type of bomb, when it is set to go off, and the caller's identity, even though it is unlikely that the caller will give this information.

Write down the caller's exact words, if possible, and the exact time of the call. This information will be helpful in determining the caller's identity.

If it is possible, alert a second person to begin calling for help on another line. This will increase the possibility of tracing the call. Some school sites are able to trace incoming calls if the school's telephone is not hung up. So, just to be safe, the receiver should not be replaced.

1. Does the school have a documentation plan for obtaining as much detail as possible about the bomb and its location?

2. Does this plan include the request of the following information:
    a. Exact location of bomb.
    b. Time set for detonation.
    c. What it looks like.
    d. What the explosive is.
    e. Why the bomb was placed.

3. Does the school have caller ID on the main call in line?

4. In case of bomb threat warnings:
    a. Does the bomb threat plan include a procedure for notifying the superintendent and emergency support agencies?
    b. Has a copy of the building floor plan been made available to the local police and departments?
    c. Has an evacuation plan been made available and rehearsed with faculty members and student on what to do in case of a bomb threat?

5. These procedures should include the following information:
    a. An identification code that notifies all personnel within the building
    b. A bomb threat building survey procedure for how to report suspicious objects.

Persons taking the threatening call should know whom to notify and should do so in a timely manner. Typically, this would be a principal, assistant principal, and/or an administrative
official. Procedures should also be in a place to notify law enforcement in a prompt and timely
manner, and training should be provided to all staff on how to report bombs and other emergencies to emergency services dispatchers.

Notifications: When a bomb threat is received or otherwise initiated, the employee who received the threat shall immediately notify the administrator in charge. Upon receipt of notification of a bomb threat, the site administrator shall immediately communicate the existence of a bomb threat to the following agencies or personnel in the following order:

1. local police department: (telephone number)

2. fire department: (telephone number)

3. switchboard operator or school secretary, who will then notify the following school personnel: superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent of business services, director of security, and director of maintenance and operations

4. other on-site administrators and counselors

5. teachers and support personnel