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SECTION 6
DRILLS

DRILL PREPARATIONS FOR
PLANNERS AND/OR ADMINISTRATORS

1) After constituting special teams to deal with emergency response and preparations (see Section 3), hold a special meeting with each team to discuss its responsibilities and recommended preparations:

• Planning -- oversee whole process
• Administrator/EOC -- coordinate response
• Teachers -- deal with students (determine which teachers, if any, will be relieved of classroom duties to serve on other teams)
• First Aid -- maintaining medical kits and knowing procedures
• Search and Rescue -- maintaining tools and knowing procedures
• Site Security -- direct police, medical and fire personnel to places within building; close off building if necessary
• Fire Safety -- special fire patrol; gas shutoff; maintain equipment
• Evacuation -- assess situation in evacuation area and organize evacuation to it
• Maintenance -- maintain food and water supplies, sanitation supplies, shelter provisions
• Other special teams -- for example, bus drivers, counselors or communications

2) Discuss with all teams the plan's overall goals and purposes:

a) Let the purpose of each part of the emergency plan (preparedness, emergency response, evacuation) determine what a specific drill's goals should be.

b) Decide which kinds of drills can best test the goals.

c) List five main objectives of each drill (for example: reaction time, coordination, communication, training).

d) Decide criteria for success and/or revision of plan's parts.

3) Explain the different kinds of drills and their goals:

a) Duck, cover and hold--in which everybody gets under a desk or table for 60 seconds and holds on to it.

b) Evacuation--in which only that response is tested.

c) "Walk through"--in which actions and responsibilities of each team are discussed by all and coordinated.

d) "Shock"--in which first aid response to injuries is tested.

e) Full Scale--actual field test of a complete plan during a simulated earthquake.

4) Discuss and determine procedures for evacuating building:

See the Checklist for Developing and Evaluating an Evacuation Plan (next page).

5) Plan for the unexpected--generate alternative procedures for each of your steps:

• Key personnel get injured or killed.
• Power fails.
• Water pumps stop or water lines break.
• Evacuation routes get blocked.
• Aftershocks further damage precarious structures or nonstructural elements.
• There could be fire.
• Injured people can't move.
• Communications equipment doesn't work.
• The earthquake hits while students are on buses.
• Classroom door(s) jam closed.

6) Build evaluation into your procedures. Specify all the goals you want to accomplish and then give yourself a checklist (or use the Team Tasks Checklist) so you can assess the drill and change areas that need improvement.

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School Earthquake Preparedness Guide - State of Arkansas
Arkansas Office of Emergency Services, 1993