Emergencies can happen anytime and anywhere. From severe weather like hurricanes to violent threats like an active assailant, school districts need to be prepared. However, planning shouldn’t be the responsibility of individual schools alone. Preparation for all-hazard emergencies should be implemented district-wide. Consistency across schools ensures that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of emergency plans and protocols, such as a bomb threat response plan or a de-escalation strategy for an active assailant. This uniform approach helps everyone know how to respond effectively to these threats.
De-Escalation Strategies for Surviving a School Shooting
Since 1970, the United States has experienced over 1,300 school shootings. This number does not record shootings on college campuses. Still, many people tend to have the “it can’t happen here” mentality. Furthermore, students have doubts about school safety. 50% of students are not confident in the training they’ve received for responding to an emergency, according to a 2023 survey. To foster a safe school climate, schools need to be prepared for the real possibility of an active assailant threat. Implementing an active shooter response training program into an overarching, comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) can help save the lives of students, staff, and faculty.
ALICE Training®, a solution of Navigate360, is a widely adopted and proven program for active shooter response training. ALICE ensures that all members of your school district—staff and students alike—receive age- and ability-appropriate instruction tailored to their specific needs. This training empowers individuals to take an active role in responding to a school shooting situation, enhancing their preparedness and confidence.
Active Shooter Response
While an active shooter situation is a traumatic event, training to survive one shouldn’t be. Training for an event like this can be traumatizing for individuals who have previously experienced traumatic events. Research shows that one in four students in every classroom is dealing with trauma in some way. Therefore, it’s crucial that safety training and scenarios utilize a trauma-informed approach, teaching people how to respond to a critical threat while still meeting their physical, social, and emotional needs.
ALICE Training ® is an active shooter preparedness solution that helps individuals understand how to proactively respond to violent situations without re-traumatizing them. As an alternative to the outdated lockdown-only approach, ALICE uses trauma-informed practices through a multi-option response approach. These responses are represented by each letter in ALICE:
- Alert – Becoming aware of the threat. Alert can be overcoming denial, recognizing signs, and understanding that you’re in danger.
- Lockdown – In some scenarios, enhanced lockdown may be the preferable option. For example, if it is not safe to evacuate, barricade any entry points into the room you’re in.
- Inform – Communicating information in as real-time as possible about the intruder. This can be done through video surveillance, 911 calls, PA announcements, and other channels.
- Counter – Counter focuses on actions that create noise, movement, distance, and distraction with the intent of reducing the intruder’s ability to shoot accurately. Counter is NOT fighting and is only taught to adults.
- Evacuate – Evacuating to a safe area takes people out of harm’s way and hopefully prevents civilians from having to come into contact with the shooter.
This robust approach to active shooter response is crucial because every threat is unique. The traditional, passive lockdown-only response may not always keep people safe and is no longer the preferred response of federal and state agencies. Active shooter response training like ALICE provides students and staff with various effective response options so they are knowledgeable about how to react to a range of active shooter situations.
School Shooting Aftermath
After a traumatic event like a school shooting, students are vulnerable to mental health consequences such as grief, survivor’s guilt, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Because of this, it is critical that students and survivors have ongoing support available to them.
Bomb Threat Response Procedures
Another emergency that school districts can face is a bomb threat. These threats can be made for various reasons, whether to divert attention away from an actual and potentially more serious crime, to test the initial response of the school system, or to draw targets out into the open. Many school bomb threats have unfortunately been made by students seeking to disrupt the school day and get out of school. These threats can be handwritten in notes or on bathroom walls or sent electronically via text or the internet. However they’re made, all threats must be treated seriously, thoroughly investigated, and managed. Solutions like Navigate360 Emergency Management (EM) assist school districts in developing bomb threat emergency response plans, ensuring that faculty, staff, and students are well-prepared and understand the proper procedures for responding to bomb threats.
Severe Weather Plans for Schools
Not all emergencies are manmade. Severe weather and natural disasters can also threaten the safety of students, staff, and school property. Just like with active assailants and bomb threats, having a comprehensive severe weather emergency action plan is essential. These plans should be based on national guidelines, regional conditions, and the unique needs of your school. Each type of severe weather—such as tornadoes, extreme heat, hurricanes, and flash flooding—requires a specific plan.
Site mapping and detailed floor plans are critical for identifying safe shelter areas during extreme weather and for providing first responders with accurate location information before and during the emergency. Additionally, severe weather plans should account for communication and response strategies for personnel outside of school grounds, such as bus drivers.
A Comprehensive Solution for Emergency Planning & Response
While it can be hard to imagine your school district experiencing an emergency, it is important to prepare for the possible chance of one (or more) occurring. Forming an emergency operations plan doesn’t have to be a difficult process or become the responsibility of one person in a silo. Emergency Management, a solution of Navigate360 can help school districts prepare for the unthinkable. This comprehensive safety solution helps school personnel plan for an emergency with the following benefits:
- Build, maintain, and disseminate EOPs with a user-friendly platform
- Track, schedule, practice, and report on regular drills
- Maintain up-to-date campus mapping
- Activate instant alerts and real-time communication
- Prepare for and enable efficient family reunification during an emergency
- Documentation for state and federal compliance
- Mobile app for ease of access during an emergency
- Leverage powerful integrations
Give every school in your district peace of mind by equipping them with an all-hazards emergency response by using Navigate360 Emergency Management and ALICE Training®.
