Tabletop Exercise Haz Mat Leak Texas School Safety

Tabletop Exercise Haz. Mat Leak: Texas School Safety Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Agenda • • Texas School Safety Center Introductions Exercise Continuum Today’s Tabletop Scenario Discussions Hot Wash (Debrief) Action Planning Closure http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Rules of the Road • Creativity/Group Problem Solving • Use the knowledge and information available in the room • Active Thinking • Active Listening • Active Participation • Respect – challenge ideas, not people • Reality Check – make the exercise real for you. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Introductions Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

The Exercise Continuum Briefly: • • Texas School Safety Center Drills Tabletop Exercises Functional Exercises Full-Scale Exercises http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Tabletop Exercises • Simulate an emergency situation in an informal, stress-free environment. • Initiate discussion of emergency guidelines. • Focus on training and familiarization with roles, guidelines, and responsibilities. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

How a Tabletop Works • A scenario-based discussion is guided by a facilitator; • Problems talked through without stress; • Observe offer feedback on the proceedings • Policies, procedures, plans, and guidelines are discussed and updated. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Tabletop Success Participants leave with: A positive learning experience Organizational learning Improvement action planning More effective policies, plans, and guidelines • Improved preparedness • • Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Exercise Guidelines • This exercise is designed to test the preparedness of the district/school to respond to a multi-agency, multi-site emergency event. • Following the exercise, there will be a debriefing time, aka a “Hot Wash”. • Each participant will be given the opportunity to share his/her views on what worked well and what needs to be addressed in additional planning, training and/or drilling Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Guidelines (Continued) • LEA policies and existing safety plan(s) govern all activities relating to the emergency event. • The facilitator will serve as the exercise referee and provide any official interpretation of the exercise rules. • From time to time, there will be injections into the scenario. These are intended to further assess response to the exercise scenario. This is designed to be a learning experience for all. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Purpose • To examine current policies, procedures, resources and actions in the context to a response to an earthquake in a district/school setting • To promote greater understanding and ability to apply NIMS/ICS principles to your setting • To make improvements as identified as an outcome of the exercise Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Objectives • To evaluate policies and procedures… your plan • To evaluate command control including communications procedures • To identify resources needed vs. available • To identify training needs • To identify needed improvements and create an action plan to address those needs Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Situation Demographics Overview: For today’s exercise, your LEA/school has: • • • Texas School Safety Center Number of schools/facilities Types of schools/facilities Athletic facilities Student population Employee population http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

First Responder Resource Overview The first responder resources immediately available to your school, include but are not limited to: • Police • Fire • EMS Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Risk Assessment Overview: Known threats and hazards to your district and school: • Natural ___________ • Biological __________ • Technological ________ • Adversarial/Human ______ -> Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

So…. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Scenario • The second Thursday of November is a big day at school. • This year marks the third annual Turkey Trot Race. The fun-filled day of student and parent activities includes a ½-mile run for each class. Parent and teacher events are also scheduled. • It is a perfect day for the festivities, with clear skies, moderate temperatures, and winds from the southwest at 3 miles per hour. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Scenario 11: 30 • First-grade students, together with 15 parents and 10 teachers, have just returned to the cafeteria for lunch. • The kindergarten class, along with 25 parents and 10 teachers, are arriving in the race area, which is located southwest of the third grade classrooms and east of the basketball courts. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Scenario 11: 40 • One of the teachers at the race area smells a strong ammonia odor in the air. • She notifies the principal. • She also reports that she has heard police or fire sirens in the vicinity. • The parents and other teachers present are quite concerned. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions Based on this much information, • What are your immediate concerns? • What initial actions should you take? • What should you do next? • What do you need to know? • How do you find the information? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What does your EOP/Safety Plan call for? • What are you going to do? What actions will you take? • Do you activate your school incident command at this point? • What is your ICS structure? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions ICS Structure • • • Who is the Incident Commander? Who is the Public Information Officer? Who is the Liaison Officer? Who is the Operations Chief? What other ICS positions will you activate and who will fill them? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Inject #1 11: 42 • The principal has ordered that everyone at the race event report to the cafeteria and remain there until the situation is resolved. • As the children head back to the school, several start pushing and shoving in their rush to “get away from the smell. ” • One little girl has fallen and banged her head on the sidewalk. A parent has carried her to the nurse’s office, but she is bleeding heavily from a laceration just above her right eye. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Inject #1 11: 42 • The school nurse has sent a parent to report to the office that five students and two parents have come to her office complaining of difficulty breathing. • One of the students is asthmatic but the nurse does not know whether or not to allow the student to use his inhaler. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What actions should you take based on this new information? • How will you notify parents? What will you tell them? • For what contingencies should you plan? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Inject #2 11: 45 • A fire department official has just called the school to notify the principal of an anhydrous ammonia leak at an adjacent warehouse immediately south of the school. • The fire department recommends an immediate evacuation of the school and surrounding neighborhoods and instructs the principal to evacuate from the parking lot at the southeast corner of the school facility. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Inject #2 11: 45 • Teachers at the cafeteria report that parents indicate that they want to leave immediately and take their children with them. Parents’ vehicles are parked on the streets surrounding the school and in the school parking lot. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What actions should school personnel take based on the directions received from the fire department? • How many buses are required to accomplish a complete evacuation? How long will it take them to arrive? What is your estimated time requirement for completing the evacuation? • Will you need to make additional ICS assignments to accomplish the evacuation? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What will you tell the parents who want to take their children and leave? • For what contingencies must you plan? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Inject #3 Noon (15 minutes later) • As evacuation efforts are being coordinated, 20 additional children complain of feeling sick. The teachers are voicing their reluctance to permit the children to leave the school. They think it is much safer to stay inside. • One parent who has decided to leave wants to take other children who live in the same neighborhood. Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What should you do about the children who are feeling sick? • What should you do about the parent who wants to take additional children home? • How will you ensure that the entire school facility is evacuated and that everyone (including students, parents, and staff) is accounted for? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Questions • What is your first concern in this situation? • What actions will you take? • What additional contingencies did you or must you now prepare for? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

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Hot Wash Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Hot Wash • How well did your EOP/Safety Plan operate and what actions will you take toward improvement? • How well did your ICS Team operate and what actions will you take toward improvement? • How well did your Communications Plan operate and what actions will you take toward improvement? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

Hot Wash • What can be done to improve school safety & security operations? • What internal district-level offices were required to work together in this scenario? • What external agencies did the Liaison Officer need to work with in this scenario? • Are all necessary agreements in place to facilitate cooperation among agencies? Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu

After Action Plan • Lessons Learned: For an improved action plan, consider what you will: • • Keep Doing ______ Stop Doing ______ Do Differently ________ Start Doing ______ Texas School Safety Center http: //www. k 12. wa. ys/Safety. Center www. txssc. txstate. edu