Nationwide Preparation Level for Mass Casualty Incidents in Schools

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recognizes active shooters as a threat to healthcare facilities and encourages them to incorporate planning and preparedness into their emergency operation plans. A guide was developed, and backed by the DHS, FBI, US Department of Justice, and Federal Emergency Management Agency, focused on prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery, as well as stressing the importance of plans

The effort of this paper is designed to provide an audience with the basic framework in preventing, reacting to, and recovering from a school shooting. By analyzing the crisis of a school shooting, this paper will lay out the practical steps in preparing schools, communities, and local agencies for a tragedy that has already shook many communities across the nation. This paper will also follow the steps necessary to implement and evaluate a school shooting preparedness plan. In concluding this paper, school staff, local agencies, and families will be able to take the practical steps towards providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for students.

The intention of this paper is to look at and present some issues and strategies that members of a school community think about when trying to create safer schools. Particularly when addressing an active shooter in a school setting. A major issue to consider when trying to keep all schools safe, is the simple fact that no two schools are the same. Understanding this can lead us to the conclusion that it is impossible to have one global plan or program that can be 100% effective in all schools. “Violence prevention programs work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and address the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. For any set of policies to work, it must be established and

Tuesday April 20th, 1999 began like any other day. Parents went to work, and the children went off to school. Neither worried about the other, or how their day would turn out. But, hours later everything changed (“Columbine Highschool Massacre.”). Little did the residents of Columbine, Colorado know their high school would be a statistic for one of the largest school massacres in US History. On this day, two teenage boys were responsible for killing 12 innocent students and a teacher, wounding 23 more students, and then killing themselves (Miller). While a horrific event, the Columbine tragedy improved the safety in schools by upgrading security systems, improving administration’s knowledge on school security, and increasing

Recently in America a tragedy occurred in San Bernardino, 14 people were murdered by 2 people that allegedly had ties to ISIS. Although officers responded in a matter of minutes, that speed isn’t always available, especially in rural areas. Is this the beginning of a change in America? I believe this is so and I also believe mass shootings should be addressed more specifically school shootings because the means of protection aren’t there. “Since 2013, there have been at least 161 school shootings in America- an average of nearly one a week.” (161 School Shootings in America Since 2013. everytownresearch.org.) That statistic includes 3 Indiana schools St. Mary’s Catholic School in Griffith, Indiana on 4/21/14, Purdue University on 1/21/14 and Indiana State on 9/29/14, also a high school in Louisville, Kentucky a day after the Indiana State shooting. These aren’t just happening on the west coast or down in Florida where the news only talks about, the places that seem to never be close, they’re happening close to home

Research in school shootings have been administered in many categories, including sociology, psychology, and etc. past studies, and direct later studies in school shootings, offers a sociology stand point for understanding the differences of school shooting incidents, including rampage shootings, mass murders shootings, and examining the mass media dynamic of school shootings; as well as presenting a combination of causes said in the research, including those on the individual, community, and social levels. Suggestions for studies in the future in school shootings are still yet to be explored.

Through this tragedy, educators have learned a different approach to intruders. We teach students to think for themselves through a training program called ALICE: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. There is no linear progression to ALICE. Through studies, we have learned the best chance for survival is to evacuate the building and run. ALICE teaches schools, teachers, and students how to respond in intruder situations. Schools all across the country including hundreds in our area conduct weekly ALICE drills. An example of items implemented from our ALICE trainings include: a method of communication to all teachers and students, increase in the number of school security cameras, door locking mechanisms on every classroom door to be used in the event that a classroom cannot evacuate and needs to “shelter in place” and finally, a go-bucket. Items in a go-bucket vary across schools but if you google the term you will see these items include: items to barricade a door, items to defend oneself, items such as wasp spray, which can

Soon after the 1999 massacre, school lockdowns became widespread and ushered new security measures in school across the U.S. The effort of installing Lockdowns were strengthened after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Instructors and staff members applied these safety procedures to protect students at the school. Students were swept into the storage closets and behind bookcases where they would hide until the situation is fully resolved. Today, instructors are advised to snap off the lights, lock the doors and usher students into closets and corners while the school officials contact the police. In this locked room, students' text one another, play cards or board games or just wait until they are told everything is back to normal. Indeed, since the Columbine shooting, 32 states have enacted laws demanding schools to perform lockdown drills to keep students safe from intruders (Muschert 11). However, over the years, in the past decade, shooting has increased. The introduction of lockdown drills has not materialized in today’s setting as gun control laws have failed. The massive ownership of guns allowed in the Second Amendment of the U.S Constitution has promoted school shootings. Today, students have access to guns from parents and there is no minimum age for owning a long gun. It means even a child can own a rifle. The weakness of legal ownership of guns in the U.S is clear. So, even with

Not one entity should or can claim sole accountability for the multifaceted range of challenges related with disasters and emergencies like active shooters. Public health nurses team up with other experts, such as laboratory workers environmentalists, physicians, epidemiologists and social workers during times of emergency. In the scenario of an active shooter the public health nurse, is to work together with other emergency workers to improve the emergency response, which include but is not limited to, officers, Federal agents, hospital security and ambulance workers. According to the Department of Homeland Security, every public health nurse should be able to locate and be familiar with the contents of the emergency response plan before an emergency occurs (US Department of Homeland Security, 2006). Chain of command is also important during the times of crisis. “Each public health nurse needs to be familiar with and be able to describe the lines of authority and communication in emergency response, a command chain that is based on the Incident Command System” (OSHA, 2001) Even though public health nurses can work in many competences, they are more likely to be functioning in the role of the “operations section” because they bring

However, schools are not fully prepared to protect their students in case of an emergency like an active shooter. They have their students practice “lockdown” drills so we can be prepared for an active shooter if it ever were to happen but, are we ever actually prepared? Are we really ever ready to face an active shooter if they get into your classroom or hide and watch as your classmates get picked off one by one and pray he doesn’t find you? There are ways schools can better prepare for emergency situations. A school district in Oklahoma has started installing bullet proof shelters in classrooms following the Florida school shooting.

Scissors, crayons, notebooks, headstone, glue sticks are all supplies needed for this school year. Wait, a headstone? Yes, since 2013 there has been 242 school shootings (Everytown). This means thousands of student’s lives have been put at risk. Sadly, not all of the students have made it out alive. Once there was a time where the biggest worries a student had during the day was if they would get a swing at recess, who was dating who, or even if they had been accepted to college, not if today was the day they would get shot. Three things come to mind when it comes to school shootings: the attacker, how they carry out the attack, and the attacker’s motive.

Future teachers at NMU spend a lot of time in schools working with teacheres and doing field work. Students asked professors how local schools handle Active Shooter drill situations. This question about being prepared became more relevant as schools shootings have increased in the United States. The goal and responsibility at NMU is to prepare students for their future

In Exploring School Rampage Shootings: Research, Theory, and Policy, Micahel Rocque examines the history of school rampage shootings in the United States, as well as the theories and policy developments that have followed. The article is sectioned into four main parts: 1. Historical context and notable changes of school violence/shootings from the 20th century to present; 2. Recent empirical research based on school shootings; 3. Popular theories that help illuminate the possible causes of school shootings; 4. Policy changes as a result of school rampage shootings and the effect of such policies. Rocque argues that more research is required before stable conclusions in policy can be constructed.

The horrifying spate of school shootings between 1997 and 1999 has transformed that uneasiness into an almost desperate alarm. Behind the facade of our material comfort,

The purpose of the Emergency Preparedness Plan is to save lives and prevent injuries in case of emergencies such as nuclear attack, fire, natural disaster, civil disorder or other, and provide the necessary best practices to ensure all possible and relevant forms of communicating with our faculty, staff, students, and parents. Mrs. Patricia Harris of the International Studies Elementary Charter School was interviewed about the International Studies Elementary Charter School’s Emergency Management Plan and the role of the school counselor during emergencies. Surprisingly, the school counselor does not play as important of a role than one would have thought. Although, the counselor does serve as one of the Designated School Emergency Team Members, some the tasks that would seem likely the counselor would perform, are performed by other administrators. Tasks such as talking to parents or being there for the students are performed by the principal while the school counselor is delegated to direct traffic. Based on the Emergency Management Plan, it would seem that the school counselor’s role is still not clearly understood. With all the expertise that counselors can bring to a crisis situation, it’s disappointing that counselors are assigned such a miniscule task as delegating traffic. Counselor Harris did discuss the Dougherty County School System’s Crisis Team. That team is