Empowering school staff with emergency response protocols

Key points:

• Staff must feel empowered and involved in emergency response protocols
• Tiered response protocols help schools define emergency procedures
• Most school staff worry about emergency situations and physical safety
• For more news on emergency planning, visit eSN’s Emergency Resource hub

Safety response protocols are foundational to creating a culture of safety in schools. District leaders should adopt and implement response protocols that cover all types of emergencies. Schools should have building-level response protocols and protocols for incidents when first responders are needed. These practices are critical to keeping the community safe during emergencies.

When staff members are empowered to participate in emergency planning and response, their sense of safety is improved. Unfortunately, many staff members do not feel safe at school.

Thirty percent of K-12 staff think about their physical safety when at work every day, and 74 percent of K-12 staff said they do not feel supported by their employer to handle emergency situations at work.

Staff disempowerment is a “central problem” when it comes to district emergency planning, said Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey, superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools: “What does safety mean for educators to really be able to feel safe in their classroom, to impact student achievement, the well-being of students? And how does that anxiety play with how the students feel in the classroom?”

School leaders should implement response protocols that empower staff to understand and participate in emergency response using a two-tiered system of emergency response:

• A building-level emergency planning and response team should develop an Emergency Operations Plan, which includes an emergency response protocol
• Administrators should adopt protocols to follow when they need first responders to intervene

For guidance on crafting emergency response protocols and plans, click here.