Schools & Education
School Emergency Preparedness Training
Preparedness education for school staff, educational organizations, and partners supporting safer, more resilient learning environments.
From a School Safety Plan to Practical Readiness
Schools may have established procedures for evacuation, earthquake, fire, hazardous materials, lockdown, severe weather, reunification, medical emergencies, and other incidents.
The practical challenge is ensuring that staff understand those procedures and can adapt when actual conditions are different from the scenario they expected.
- How will staff know an emergency is occurring?
- Which procedure applies?
- Who has authority to make protective-action decisions?
- When should occupants evacuate?
- When might shelter-in-place be appropriate?
- What happens if the normal evacuation route cannot be used?
- How are students accounted for?
- How are students needing additional assistance supported?
- How will families receive reliable information?
- What happens if communications or power are disrupted?
- How does reunification fit into the response?
- What should staff do during a medical emergency before responders arrive?
IFCRR training helps connect written procedures to realistic decisions and actions.
Emergency Procedures and Staff Awareness
Training can be adapted to an organization's existing school safety plan, emergency operations plan, or related procedures.
Evacuation
- Evacuation signals and notifications
- Primary and alternate routes
- Assembly locations
- Student accountability
- Staff responsibilities
- Visitors and volunteers
- Students requiring assistance
- Restrictions on reentry
- Changing conditions during evacuation
Shelter-in-Place
- Situations in which shelter-in-place may be considered
- Moving students and staff to appropriate locations
- Doors, windows, and outside-air considerations
- Accountability
- Communications
- Monitoring official information
- Transitioning to another protective action if conditions change
Earthquake
- Immediate protective actions
- Post-earthquake hazards
- Evacuation considerations
- Accountability
- Utility and infrastructure disruptions
- Communications
- Family reunification considerations
Wildfire and Smoke
- Wildfire alerts
- Evacuation readiness
- Transportation
- Smoke and air quality
- Outdoor activities
- Indoor-air considerations
- Family communications
- Changing local conditions
Hazardous-Materials Incidents
- Community chemical emergencies
- Exposure pathways
- Evacuation versus shelter-in-place
- Official protective-action instructions
- Outside-air and building considerations
- Why staff should not attempt hazardous-materials responder activities without appropriate qualifications
Emergency Communications
School emergencies create a significant demand for information.
- Internal notifications
- Emergency alarms
- Staff communications
- Public-address systems
- Radios
- Mass-notification systems
- Local emergency alerts
- Communications with first responders
- Communications with parents and caregivers
- Backup communication methods
- Managing incomplete or conflicting information
Student Accountability and Reunification
Accounting for students and reuniting them with authorized caregivers can become one of the most challenging aspects of a school emergency.
- Classroom accountability
- Movement between locations
- Missing or unaccounted-for students
- Students who were off campus when the incident began
- Documentation
- Parent and caregiver communications
- Controlled reunification
- Alternate reunification locations
- Traffic and access
- Coordination with public-safety agencies
IFCRR training can reinforce an organization's existing reunification procedures without replacing established school or district policy.
Access and Functional Needs
Emergency procedures should reflect the actual student and staff population.
- Mobility limitations
- Hearing or vision limitations
- Developmental or cognitive needs
- Medical needs
- Communication differences
- Language needs
- Medications and medical equipment
- Transportation
- Individual assistance requirements
The objective is not to create a single generic solution, but to help organizations identify where additional planning may be needed.
Protective Decision-Making for School Personnel
Emergencies may not unfold exactly as written in a plan. Staff may face incomplete information, changing hazards, blocked routes, communications failures, or competing priorities.
1. Identify the immediate problem.
2. Determine which procedures apply.
3. Assess currently available information.
4. Identify important uncertainties.
5. Compare protective options.
6. Act without unnecessary delay.
7. Communicate the decision.
8. Reassess as conditions change.
Medical and Lifesaving Readiness
Schools and educational organizations may also incorporate IFCRR's Community Lifesaving And Emergency Skills Program (CLASP).
- CPR/AED
- First aid
- Basic Life Support where appropriate
- STOP THE BLEED®
- Severe-bleeding control
- Emergency recognition
- Community lifesaving skills
This allows a school or organization to address both preparedness and immediate lifesaving capability: Prepared before the incident. Capable during the incident.
Training and Exercises
Emergency preparedness becomes more useful when participants have an opportunity to apply procedures.
- Staff preparedness workshops
- Facilitated discussions
- Tabletop exercises
- Scenario-based decision-making
- Evacuation discussions or walkthroughs
- Communications exercises
- Reunification discussions
- Hazard-specific exercises
- Lifesaving-skills practice
- After-action observations and improvement recommendations
Exercises can be scaled to the school's needs and resources. A useful exercise does not have to be large or disruptive.
Who This Training Is For
- Public schools
- Charter schools
- Private schools
- School districts
- County offices of education
- Preschools and childcare organizations
- Colleges and educational programs
- Youth-serving nonprofits
- After-school programs
- Camps
- Faith-based educational programs
- Parent and family organizations
Supporting California School Safety Planning
California public schools have specific responsibilities for Comprehensive School Safety Plans and emergency preparedness.
IFCRR training can support staff understanding and practical implementation of emergency procedures, but it does not substitute for a school's or district's responsibility to determine and comply with applicable Education Code, regulatory, district, or local requirements.
Where IFCRR supports a school or district, the existing school safety plan remains the controlling organizational document.
Complementing School and Public-Safety Programs
IFCRR does not replace school administrators, district emergency-management personnel, law enforcement, fire departments, emergency management agencies, school nurses, mental-health professionals, or other established school-safety resources.
- Comprehensive School Safety Plan implementation
- Staff emergency preparedness
- Parent preparedness education
- Student preparedness activities
- School-community outreach
- Emergency exercises
- Community preparedness events
- CPR/AED and first-aid capability
- Severe-bleeding-control training
Initial School Preparedness Pilot Opportunities
IFCRR is currently seeking schools and educational organizations interested in hosting initial preparedness pilot programs.
- General staff emergency preparedness
- Evacuation and accountability
- Shelter-in-place
- Earthquake readiness
- Wildfire and smoke
- Hazardous-materials incidents
- Emergency communications
- Protective decision-making
- Reunification
- CPR/AED and lifesaving skills
- Tabletop exercises
- Integrated preparedness and CLASP training
Pilot evaluation may examine participant understanding of emergency procedures, knowledge of protective actions, decision-making confidence, understanding of roles and responsibilities, communications awareness, participant feedback, training relevance, implementation considerations, and opportunities for improvement.
For strategically appropriate initial pilots, IFCRR may provide some or all program services at no cost through volunteer instructor and staff time.
Request a School Preparedness Pilot
If your school or educational organization wants to strengthen practical emergency readiness, IFCRR would like to discuss a potential pilot.
- What type of organization you represent
- Who you would like to train
- Approximately how many participants may be involved
- Which hazards or emergency procedures are priorities
- What preparedness training currently exists
- What you would like the pilot to accomplish
IFCRR can work with you to determine an appropriate scope.
Plans Provide Structure. Training Builds Capability.
Schools cannot predict every emergency.
They can help staff and school communities understand the procedures, recognize changing conditions, communicate effectively, and make appropriate decisions when an emergency occurs.