Crisis Management

1. Crisis Management With Contributions from Don Bertuccii Chaffey Unified School District

2. CRISIS MANAGEMENT Definition: A sudden, generally unanticipated event that profoundly and negatively affects a significant segment of the school population and often involves serious injury or death. What events could happen to qualify as a crisis?

3. Essential Components Evacuation Primary and Secondary sites Relocation (off campus) Lockdown Aftermath

4. Other Components • Primary staff responsibilities • Communication plan • Staff • District • Incident Management Team • Responding Agencies • Parents and Media • Semi-annual review

5. Plan Ahead • Designate a leader and backup • Select Your Crisis Response Team • Nurse • Custodians • Counselors • Media & Community Services Laison • Phone Tree for Staff and Parent Contact

6. Plan Ahead • Develop clear and consistent policies and procedures • Develop Forms & Information Sheets • Develop Protocols for Staff Communication • Provide Staff Training for Crisis Response Team • Provide Emergency Coverage for Classes • Practice Drills • Long Term Follow-up

7. Decide who will be in charge • Crucial first step • Assign 1 person to provide leadership during emergency • Organize activities • Disseminate information • Often the principal or vice principal • Designate a substitute • In case appointed leader is unavailable or incapacitated • Extremely important students & staff know who these people are • Identification badges are helpful

8. Select your Crisis Response Team CRT • Typical members of your CRT • Administrator • Nurse • Psychologist and/or Social Worker • Teachers • Counselors • Support Staff Representative • Custodians • Others with appropriate task to perform • CRT member must be present full-time at school or able to respond immediately to telephone call

9. Develop clear/consistent policies and procedures • Provide all staff with clear guidelines for tasks and responsibilities during crises and emergencies • Ensures all staff respond consistently in each situation • Include policy and procedure by which students are released to parents or caregivers • Provide training to CRT

10. Establish police liaison • Designate one person with whom police can communicate • Inform police this person can be telephoned 24/7 • Report crises • Exchange relevant information • Designee will in turn contact key people at school • Accurate information from police quells rumors

11. Establish media liaison • Identify suitable facilities where reports can work and new conferences held • Community and publish spokespersons to whom all media requests are referred • Communicate with media liaison to establish procedures for responding to media • Consult with school board when district has no media liaison designated • Develop relationship with that board member

12. Establish working relationship with community EMS and resource groups • Facilitate quick, collaborative response • Develop strong relationships with community agencies prior to emergency • Make list of support services available to CRT

13. Set up telephone trees • Communicate crucial information quickly as possible • Complexity of telephone tree depends upon side of community & school

14. Plan to make space available • Required for community meetings • Staging area for outside service providers • Designate school sites • Include potential alternative sites in community

15. Develop necessary forms & information sheets • Record-keeping to assist management of crisis situations • Translate materials into other languages for families based on community demographics

16. Other considerations • Develop plan for emergency coverage of classes for teachers who are part of CRT • Establish code to alert staff without alarming the entire school or creating panic • Develop list of reference books relevant to crisis situations for students and staff • Have attorney review crisis response procedures and forms and revise to comply with liability concerns

17. More considerations • Practice “crisis alerts” through role playing • Identify potential problems and discuss how to address them • Hold annual in-service training on general crisis intervention for all school staff • Include information on unanticipated events

18. Unanticipated Events • Suicides, school bus crashes, natural disasters, multiple injuries, deaths • Knowing what to do minimizes chaos, rumors, and impact on event or students

19. Near death or fatal crisis • Tell staff and person reporting crisis not to repeat information to anyone • Explain need to verify information • Announcement must come from administrator • Keep reporting person in office if compliance is a concern • Request only adults answer telephone • Verify report with police liaison or coroner • Do not disturb affected family

20. Following verification • Notify superintend or appropriate district administrator • Convene CRT by code – no need to alarm others • If special education student involved notify program coordinator • Assign CRT to gather closes friends together before announcement • Prepare formal statement for initial announcement • Decide on time for emergency meeting and notify staff

21. Following verification • Identify individual most likely to be affected and provide additional support • Notify district/community resources if needed to stand-by

22. Following verification • Assign CRT members to: • Provide grief support • Review & distribute open-ended questions for class discussion • Stand in for any staff unable to deal with crisis • Coordinate auxiliary support services and provide sign-in sheet • Distribute community resources to all classes • Designate staff member to follow deceased student’s class schedule for remainder of day to help teachers of those classes

23. Following verification • Station staff/student support members as planned prior to making announcement • Announce crisis via PA or written announcement

24. Following announcement • Monitor grounds for students leaving without permission • Redirect them to support services • Notify family if unable to intercept • Notify parents of students closest to deceased/injured student • Ask them to pickup student after school • Implement evaluation plan previously developed

25. Following announcement • Notify bus drivers especially those who drive buses usually traveled by deceased/injured student • Notify feeder schools regarding siblings or students predicted to be strongly affected • Provide support to faculty and staff in lounge • Collect deceased/injured belongings at end of day • Officially withdraw deceased student from school attendance records

26. The staff meeting • Circulate picture of deceased/injured student to familiarize staff with student • Review facts of crisis & dispel rumors • Help staff process their responses • Describe feelings students may experience • Suggest ways to handle specific situations • Provide guidelines for helping upset students

27. The staff meeting • Encourage teachers to allow expressions of grief, anger, etc. • Emphasize acceptability/normalcy of range of emotions • Guiding principle is return to normalcy ASAP • Structured routine provides security & comfort • Encourage staff to dispel rumors • Discourage glorification of even • Request staff meeting 30 minutes early the next morning to review and debrief

28. The Day After: Workday 2 • Update faculty on additional information or procedures • Provide funeral/visitation information in case of death with family’s permission • Identify students in need of follow-up support

29. The Day After: Workday 2 • Assign staff member to monitor at risk students • Coordinate ongoing counseling • Announce ongoing support for students with place, time, & staff facilitator • Notify parents of affected students regarding available community resources

30. The Day After: Workday 2 • Convene CRT for debriefing ASAP • Discuss successes & problems • Discuss things to do differently next time • Allow staff opportunity to discuss feelings and reactions

31. Long term follow up and evaluation • Provide list of suggested readings to teachers, parents and students • Amend crisis response procedures as necessary • Send thank-you notes to off-site district and community people who assisted

32. Long term follow up and evaluation • Be alert to anniversaries and holidays • Often students have “anniversary” grief 1 month or 1 year following event • Similar crises remind them of original crisis • Holidays too difficult for those who experience loss

33. Classroom discussion guidelines • Review facts & dispel rumors • Discuss facts & myths about suicide • Inform students of local grief support groups • Encourage students to express their reactions • Affirm appropriateness of all reactions • Discuss possible feelings of guilt or responsibility • Discuss possible fears for their safety

34. Classroom discussion guidelines • Encourage students to support each other • Provide designated grief support stations • Reassure students all staff available to help • Help them understand loss often triggers past losses – this is normal • Encourage students to discuss feelings with parents and families

35. Suggested questions • What was it like for your when you heard the news? • Did/will you discuss it at home? • How did it go? • How do you think it will go? • If were a member of _____’s family, what do you think you would want at a time like this? • How can you students help each other through this? • What other losses have you experienced? • What thoughts and feeling does this bring up for you?

36. ReadCrisis Response Box:  Partnering for SafeSchoolsA Guide to Help Every School Assemble the Tools and Resources Needed for a Critical Incident ResponsebyBill Lockyer, California Attorney GeneralandDelaine Eastin, California Superintendent of Public Instruction