Monday, April 12, 2010

TOPIC 12 - Crisis Management Plans

Many times when the word ‘crisis’ is used in a school one thinks – intruder, especially in the inner-city schools. Yet when looking closely, a crisis when in reference to special education takes on clearly another role. Crisis in schools or in the special education population deals largely with a student who is out of control and what the teacher should do in a situation in which a student reaches that point. Many schools have steps to be followed in these types of instances just as they do for intruders, fires, and or natural disasters. A good plan should evaluate the effectiveness of their plan and be practiced to the point that students and professionals are able to calmly and quietly respond in the event a true crisis were to occur.


Crisis planning occurs at the building, district, team, and community level. Each building should have its own plan.

A “crisis” may take a variety of forms within the school. This includes death of a student, faculty, staff member, recent graduate or member of a student’s immediate family. In addition, many other situations can be perceived as a “crisis” or “critical incident” such as natural disasters, fire, etc. Whatever the situation, local school personnel need to make the decision of when to call upon the crisis management team and how to formulate an appropriate response.

Objective

• Identify and manage hazards in the school

• Prepare and respond for emergencies in school

School Crisis Plan - A Plan to lead staff in the event that a true crisis was to occur within the school
Objective of a Crisis Plan
• Identify and manage hazards in the school
• Prepare and respond for emergencies in school
Steps to follow in creating a plan
STEP 1
Awareness among the school and communities of the need for a plan

STEP 2
Establish Crisis Management Team

STEP 3
Identify the vulnerabilities of school and develop brainstorm of the plan

STEP 4
Prepare the Crisis Management documentation and prepare for staff/associates

STEP 5
Distribute plan to members and make sure all aspects have been thought of and gone over

STEP 6
Training of staff and students proper behavior and procedures for following the plan

STEP 7
Annual update of the plan- evaluate your plan - did it work?  Was is too hard for students to follow?  Did the individuals involved have any difficulties following the plan?  How can it be improved to become more useful in the future?



Here are a few places to look for general guidelines on school based Crisis interventions

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/safety-security/publications/cmw.pdf
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/crisis_qt/crisis_facets.pdf
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/crisis_qt/crisis_principles.pdf
References:
http://learn.sdstate.edu/mark_britzman/Data/CrisisManagementPlan.doc
http://www.seedsindia.org/schoolsafety/sdmp.pdf

No comments:

Post a Comment