9 Action Steps For Crafting an Education-Specific Emergency Plan
When I was a little kid, my parents had a friend who would make little round wooden discs with the words “To It” written on them. As he explained, people are always saying they would get a certain task finished “whenever they could get around to it,” and so, he made “Round To Its” for all his friends, so they could get all the things that needed doing finished once and for all. A ridiculous pun to be sure, but it’s always stuck with me.
I often think that I need to get myself some “Round To Its” at work, because there are so many things that are important, but they get left buried on my task list because of more urgent things. Maybe you feel the same?
One of the most important tasks that often suffers from a lack of “Round To Its” is emergency preparedness. No one wants to think about the worst-case scenario, but the middle of an emergency is not the time to plan out what you ought to do. You should take the time to think and plan before disaster strikes. And if you struggle with thinking that you have more important things to do at this moment than plan for disaster, let me gently suggest that ethically, you do not. Ethically, as an employee of a public institution, you have a responsibility to your staff, to your visitors, and to your collection to have plans in place for their safety before it is tested.
Hopefully, your institution already has a site-wide emergency preparedness plan (EPP). These plans should be:
Thorough - EPPs should address all possible emergencies. There are many resources to help your site create an EEP, if you do not already have one.
Printed and Accessible - EPPs should not be a secret; all employees should be given a copy and know where to find a printed and accessible version
Updated Regularly - Your site is not static. New staff positions can be created or dissolved, and the use of buildings and rooms can change. EPPs should be reviewed annually and updated as needed.
Actually Followed - A plan that is not followed isn’t much of a plan. Staff should follow the steps outlined in your EEP.
There is a lot to say on emergency preparedness for museums as a whole, but as this blog focuses solely on education within museums, let’s look at some steps we can take to make sure that your education department is ready for anything.
Emergencies Common to Education Departments
Often, what sets education departments apart from other museum departments is the presence of children. Therefore, the emergencies we most often deal with include the kind of emergencies you would see at a school or daycare; these are the kind of situations museum educators need to be particularly prepared to handle.
Bumps, Bruises, Scrapes, and Burns
If I had a dollar for every Band-Aid I’ve passed out in the last 15 years at work, I could probably retire early. Paper cuts, splinters, bumped heads, scraped knees, hot glue burns… we’ve all been there. A couple cases in point that I will never forget. At one of our drop-off programs, a little girl was running so fast, she ran right into the clipboard a staff member was holding and ended up with a black eye. Another time, a boy fell on the gravel and cut his knee so badly and so deeply, we had to call an ambulance.
A working knowledge of appropriate First Aid techniques and a fully, reliably stocked First Aid Kit is indispensable for educators. I strongly believe that if you are not trained in administering First Aid, you should not be facilitating student programs. No one needs first aid like kids.
Allergies (EpiPens)
I’ve only had to administer an EpiPen to a child once. And it was absolutely terrifying, even though I knew exactly what to do. If your programs always have teachers or parents present, you may not need to be overly concerned with this point, as any affected child’s guardian will likely take the responsibility for any severe allergic reaction. However, if you run camps, after-school programs, homeschool classes, or any other drop-off program (where parents leave children with you), then you must be prepared for handling allergy attacks.
The best way I’ve found to be prepared is to practice with a training pen. The company we partner with for First Aid/CPR training includes training on how to use EpiPens. There are also YouTube videos that walk you through the process. If you’ve never seen it done, rest assured, of all the frighteningly serious medical situations you might find yourself in, it’s one of the easiest to handle.
Working with Your Site-Wide EPP
Unfortunately, emergencies which impact our whole site, city, and/or area are also important to consider and plan against. These emergencies can include everything from armed intruders to “acts of God”-type disasters. In these cases, it is particularly important to craft your department’s plan in coordination with your site-wide plan. Often-times, a site-wide EPP will include responsibilities for each department to oversee. For example, the education department might be responsible for securing their building or classroom space, or you might be expected to help secure accessioned collection items. Make sure that you are including these roles and responsibilities in your department-specific plans. However, if you feel like the education department’s needs are not adequately reflected in the full EPP, be sure to bring those concerns to your disaster coordinator.
Go-Bags: My Top Suggestion for Emergency Preparedness
We use oversized canvas bags to carry our First Aid kits, any EpiPens or other emergency needs, paper towels, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and a clipboard containing First Aid reporting forms and parent contact information.
It is mandatory that anytime our Educators take minors around the property, the “Go-Bag” goes with them.
9 Action Steps For Crafting an Education-Specific Emergency Plan
Assuming your site has a well-developed EPP, you shouldn’t need to rewrite or start from scratch. Using your EPP as a guide, consider some specific actions you can take to be ready and prepared before disaster strikes. Below is a list of actions steps I take to prepare for education department emergencies.
Get CPR/AED/First Aid certified and know the Good Samaritan Laws in your area.
Check first aid kits once a month; or better yet, outsource it to a professional company, like Cintas, if you can afford it. Educators should never be without Band-Aids in sight! Create a “go-bag” with a fully-stocked First Aid kit that can travel with you!
Likewise, have a plan for carrying EpiPens. For my department, we carry them with us in our “go-bags,” so that children with allergies are never far from their medicine, should the need arise. For very young children, we also carry their asthma inhalers, as well.
Have a procedure for reporting minor First Aid incidents to parents. This is particularly important for programs where children are dropped off. My site does not require me to turn in notice of minor first aid to our upper administration, but we do report it to parents.
Know how to get an ambulance to where you are on your site. Education programs - particularly those in historic sites or parks - often wander from location to location. It is imperative that you know the path emergency vehicles will have to take in order to get to where you are.
Know where the closest fire extinguisher is at all times. Also, make sure everyone knows how to operate one. Once a fire has broken out, it is not the time to stop and read the instructions!
Know your evacuation route. Again, education programs sometimes wander around the site. Know the fastest path to safety, regardless of where you are.
Articulate what is important. After visitors are secure, what items are non-replaceable? Because education collections are designated to be touched, used, played with, and manipulated, they are often filled with items that can withstand a lot of abuse and can be replaced. Therefore, the education collection isn’t usually considered when writing EPPs. My teaching collection certainly doesn’t hold up against the artwork collection in our museum for being irreplaceable, yet there are definitely expensive items in my stewardship. Make a note of these items and do what you can to protect them, if safety allows.
Establish a clear communication path. In the case of emergencies, specify who needs to know what and when. Clarify for all staff at what point the Education Director, or other manager, needs to be called.
Get “A Round To It”
Sitting down to imagine worst-case scenarios is not my idea of a good time. But I know how important it is. And the peace I have from knowing that my staff and I are as prepared as we can be is always worth it in the end.
So take this encouragement to block an afternoon on your calendar, grab your favorite coffee, and just get around to emergency preparation. You may never need it, but you won’t ever regret it.
