Disaster and Emergency Preparedness: Guidance for ... - INEE Toolkit

1. Assessment and planningAssessment and planning is the starting point for all thoughtful mitigation and safety efforts.For without assessment, planning is arbitrary and without planning, assessment has no purpose.The steps below can be accomplished in a matter of days.Establish or empower your school disaster and emergencymanagement committeeSchool safety is the job of the entire school community. This effort requires leadership andcoordination by school administration, and involvement and participation from all sectorsof the school community.Each school should establish and maintain an ongoing School Disaster ManagementCommittee (also called a School Safety Committee, or School Disaster and EmergencyManagement Committee) to oversee disaster risk reduction and preparedness. This may bethe job of a pre-existing committee, sub-committee with a similar mission, or one newly establishedfor this purpose. This committee develops, adapts, implements, and updates theschool disaster management plan. It will typically meet intensively at the beginning of eachschool year and monthly during the school year. It will encourage personal and organizationalpreparedness, guide mitigation work, assure two fire and building evacuation drillsannually, lead one full simulation drill annually, evaluate the results, and adjust the planaccordingly. Ideally, the committee is empowered by and maintains formal links betweenschool and disaster management authorities.School Disaster Management Committee members need strong leadership (ideally theschool principal or assistant principal). The committee is most effective when it involves representativesof all major stakeholder groups, such as those listed below:School administration;Teachers – larger schools should make sure that all major departments or sectionsof school faculty and staff are represented;Staff – this includes facilities, maintenance, nutrition, security, health, counseling,transportation etc.Parents – this should be linked to the parent-teacher association or similar schoolwelfare committee;School neighbors – this includes neighborhood civic association, large businesses,and public safety officials. It may be accomplished through communication andliaison where appropriate with police, fire services, emergency management authorities,neighborhood association, local business partners, school board, neighborhoodelected officials and so on;School Disaster Management5