School Response Team

[MMiz]

I am on our school's Emergency Response Team, and the team is relatively new, and in the past wasn't well organized.

I need your help again.

There are two EMTs and a couple of CPR/First Aid folk. I need some ideas of how to organize a school ERT. Besides the actual response, what supplies or training should we have.

I'd like to provide each teacher a folder with their class list and emergency plans, and put them in a holder beside their door so it's always available. Included in the folder would be information on the students medical conditions and allergies. I'd also like to provide each teacher a small first aid kit, along with a flashlight.

Is there anything else you can think of. I need to build this program from the bottom up, and money is a big concern. I'd like to do it right, so any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated!

 

[gradygirl]

Well, this is more geared towards potential and current collegiate EMS squads, but check out http://www.ncemsf.org/. If you have more specific questions, PM me and I'll talk to our squad's faculty liaison who was around when TCERT was getting started.

 

[fm_emt]

We have something similar coming up with our ERT.. we need to come up with a good plan to do floor sweeps during an evacuation. Do you guys have anything about that?

 

[gradygirl]

We don't do evacuations, as much as I'd like to. Our campus LEOs and Harford FD do, however. It's something like each dorm/building has a certain number of people per floor with TEK keys that go through and open every room, making sure all residents/faculty/students are cleared from the building. (Also a very handy way for our campus LEOs to confiscate illegal paraphernalia from student's rooms.)

Helpful? If not, tell me, I'll ask the Campus Safety director as to what their procedures are.

 

[Guardian]

I am on our school's Emergency Response Team, and the team is relatively new, and in the past wasn't well organized.

I need your help again.

There are two EMTs and a couple of CPR/First Aid folk. I need some ideas of how to organize a school ERT. Besides the actual response, what supplies or training should we have.

I'd like to provide each teacher a folder with their class list and emergency plans, and put them in a holder beside their door so it's always available. Included in the folder would be information on the students medical conditions and allergies. I'd also like to provide each teacher a small first aid kit, along with a flashlight.

Is there anything else you can think of. I need to build this program from the bottom up, and money is a big concern. I'd like to do it right, so any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated!

Are you going to provide emergency medical care to the kids? In my state, you have to be affiliated with a licensed ems agency and on duty to provide care at the emt level or higher with a few exceptions. I'm no expert in this area, but surely other schools have something similar. I'd do a lot of research and model my program after existing programs in my state. I would have face to face interviews with other school system ems program managers. A school's ERT should probably be headed up by the school nurse. Again, I'm no expert in this area so take what I say with a grain of salt and keep us posted on your progress. I want to see how this turns out.

I think all teachers should learn cpr and first aid which I know happens at a lot of schools. Other than that, I think emergency care should be left up to local ems authorities.

 

[gradygirl]

I did a little reading for you, and there are three main types of school ERTs. (Again, this is collegiate oriented, but the same principles apply.)

1. Independent student organizations
2. Health service based organizations
3. Campus security based organizations

My guess is that you'll be considered a health services based squad. Ours is a campus security based squad and is dispatched by Campus Safety, but our Advisor is an APRN and our Faculty Liaison is an EMT-I.

The biggest issue (or one of the biggest) for school ERTs is leadership; many seemingly successful organizations disband because of their leadership issues. Our leadership is elected by the following system: nomination by other members, which are then approved by our Advisor, and then election from approved nominated parties; we have a Director, an Asst. Director, a Training Director, an E-COMMS Officer, and a Secretary.

I digress somewhat, but I wanted to give an example as to how this organization is founded. Again, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be interested to learn how your ERT progresses.

 

[Guardian]

I am on our school's Emergency Response Team, and the team is relatively new, and in the past wasn't well organized.

I need your help again.

There are two EMTs and a couple of CPR/First Aid folk. I need some ideas of how to organize a school ERT. Besides the actual response, what supplies or training should we have.

I'd like to provide each teacher a folder with their class list and emergency plans, and put them in a holder beside their door so it's always available. Included in the folder would be information on the students medical conditions and allergies. I'd also like to provide each teacher a small first aid kit, along with a flashlight.

Is there anything else you can think of. I need to build this program from the bottom up, and money is a big concern. I'd like to do it right, so any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated!

Being a firefighter, accountability is huge. Anything to increase accountability is great so folders with class lists is a really great idea!

 

[MMiz]

The school ERT responds to emergency incidents and provides leadership. Our medical scope of practice is limited to AHA First Aid, and we only carry basic first aid materials.

In Michigan all teachers must be certified in AHA or ARC CPR/AED/First Aid. It is not the case in NC, and most teachers are not.

The idea of folders is that the information would be available and in a known place in the event of an emergency. Emergency plans, details, and evacuation plans would all be color coded as part of the folder.

I plan to talk with local schools, but I figured I'd ask for your feedback and suggestions if you had any.

Thanks!

 

[randyb]

I'd recommend crisis mental health services too. Make sure the folks have training from NOVA or ICISF.

 

[Jon]

The idea of an emergency folder is a GREAT idea... The school district did the same thing... a folder with attendance lists was close by the door.

My schools had "fire marshals" who were responsible for assisting in the evacuation of the school (sweep classrooms, bathrooms) these teachers all had radios.

Do you have a school nurse?

 

[MMiz]

I'm not sure if we have a nurse, but I know that I filled out a form yesterday to send a kid to the nurse. I'm not sure if that just meant a trip to the office. I should find out 'eh?