CDC and the
Frequently
Asked Questions
Are you having this teleconference because
theres been a specific threat against schools?
There has
been no information to date indicating that
What do you mean by biological, chemical and
radiological events?
This teleconference focuses on biological,
chemical and radiological terrorism. Biological terrorism involves viruses,
bacteria, fungi, or toxins from living organisms. Chemical terrorism involves
the release of chemical compounds. This includes the improper use of chemicals
used in our day-to-day activities, and the use of chemicals developed by the
military for use in war. Radiological terrorism is the intentional or
threatened use of radioactive materials including those found in nuclear
weapons and nuclear plants, or found in other settings such as in medical
devices.
What should be included in a comprehensive school safety plan?
Every school
should have a comprehensive school safety plan. In fact, many states require
districts and schools to have such plans. School safety plans should be
comprehensive and responsive to the range of crises and disasters that could
affect schools, including environmental disasters (e.g., fires, floods,
tornadoes, blizzards, and earthquakes); violent events at school; mass illness
or injury; and terrorism. The school safety committee should review the school
safety plan to ensure that terrorism preparedness is addressed. Questions to
ask include:
How
do you identify a potential terrorist event?
Once
a threat has been identified, who do you contact, and in what order? This includes law enforcement, public health,
other school officials, and the superintendents office.
How
will you contact students parents or guardians?
How
will you evacuate students or get them to safety?
How
does the schools plan interact with the larger community emergency response
plan?
In 2002, the U.S. Department
of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program will gather experts from a
number of emergency preparedness and response-related fields and backgrounds to
develop recommendations for model school safety and parental notification plans
for schools and others areas where children gather. This effort is funded by
Congress and calls for wide dissemination across the country.
Who should be on our
schools committee for developing and implementing the plan?
Ideally, school safety
committees include teachers, parents, local law enforcement, emergency
management, public safety, health and mental health agencies.
Is there any significant difference in the
preparation that schools need to do if a threat comes from an internal source
(such as a school shooting) vs. an external source (such as terrorism)?
The key
principles of emergency preparedness -- planning, teamwork, and practiceare
essential in preparing for many different types of emergencies. However, some specific threats may require
specific planning. School districts
should work with their local law enforcement and emergency management agencies
to prepare for possible threats to schools.
The best school safety plans are ones that can be flexible for a wide
range of possible emergencies.
Are
schools prepared to deal with the special needs of physically and mentally
challenged students in an emergency?
Special needs of students and staff should be a consideration in all school safety plans. Local schools must identify their particular needs and how best to address these needs. Some schools will need to communicate with and transport students and staff with mobility impairments while others must address the needs of blind or deaf students, or those with language barriers. The U.S. Department of Education will be developing a model school safety plan in the upcoming months, and this plan will contain a section on students and staff with special needs.
As an educator, what are the most
important things for me to do in the short term to be prepared to respond to a
potential terrorist event impacting my school?
Look at your
schools current safety plan. Review the
plan and make sure its up to date.
Review the evacuation and transportation plans. Look at the plans for returning children to
their families, or moving students to a safe location should they need to leave
school property.
You can also
review family contact procedures, to make sure that your contact information
lists are up to date, and policies and procedures for contacting parents and
other caregivers are in place. You can
also get to know your local and state emergency management colleagues, such as
fire department staff, emergency medical services (EMS), and, of course, your
local and state public health officials.
What are the most important things for
schools to do in the long term?
Schools can
review their safety plans in depth, and think about revising them to address
potential terrorist threats or events.
Schools can also get involved in revising community response plans that
are being worked on by emergency management agencies and public health departments. Schools also need to participate in exercises
or drills to practice emergency plans.
Does emergency planning help in the event
of hurricanes and other environmental crises?
The same
system that schools use to respond to a hurricane, tornado, or other natural
disasters can be adapted to address terrorist threats. The local emergency management infrastructure
is the same, even if the type of emergency is different. Schools are already drilling on natural disasters
and how to deal with hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, etc. This planning and preparedness also applies
in biological, chemical, or radiological events.
How often should schools conduct drills to
test their plans?
Ideally,
they should conduct drills quarterly. At a minimum, drills should be conducted
each semester, both to remind the school community of the appropriate
procedures and to teach new students and staff.
Drills can help schools test their plan and identify strengths and
weaknesses.
Are there items we should stockpile in the
event that we have to shelter students at school?
For schools near chemical facilities, like
a chemical storage or production plant, or those near nuclear facilities,
school and community response plans may include sheltering in place, or
keeping students and staff inside the school building in an emergency. In an emergency that required sheltering in
place, your local emergency management agency would instruct you about what to
do, which may include sealing cracks in doors and windows. Other than that, we dont recommend
stockpiling drugs or gas masks. A resource for information on recommended emergency
supplies for schools is located on the American Red Cross Web site at http://www.redcross.org/disaster/masters/supplies.html.
Having a safety plan in
place, if and when we identify a biological, chemical, or radiological
situation, which local agencies should we contact?
Please refer to CDC's web page "Who to Contact in an Emergency" (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/EmContact/index.asp). CDCs Public Response line can be reached by calling 1.888.246.2675 (English) or 1.888.246.2857 (Spanish) or 1.866.874.2646 (TTY). Calling 911 or your emergency call number should start the response procedures in most communities regardless of the cause of the event.
How can districts identify local emergency management or health agencies?
Local
school administrators can contact their local public health agencies to begin a
dialogue and to learn what their local public health agency is already doing to
address terrorism preparedness. Both state and local public health
agencies have been involved, at some level, in community preparedness planning.
Remember, local school districts are often different from local or regional
public health districts; you might need to contact more than one public health
agency. To link to state and local health departments click here [http://www.cdc.gov/other.htm#states]. The Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) can help you learn about local emergency management agencies [www.fema.gov].
What can local health departments do to help schools?
Local health departments can
identify schools in their areas, establish a point of contact at each school,
and share information through the internet, by fax, or at school-based
presentations. The CDC Health Alert
Network (HAN) is a nationwide program to establish the communications,
information, distance-learning, and organizational infrastructure for a new
level of defense against health threats, including the possibility of bioterrorism. The HAN will link local health departments to
one another and to other organizations critical for preparedness and response:
community first-responders, hospital and private laboratories, state health
departments, CDC, and other federal agencies.
Because schools cannot directly access the HAN, it is important for
local health departments to share critical information. For additional
background information on the HAN click here [http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/han/]. To link to state and local health departments
click here [http://www.cdc.gov/other.htm#states].
What can schools do to involve parents in
the implementation of terrorism action plans?
Parents, or
other caregivers, should be part of the planning team. Family members can bring information to the
table through parent-teacher organizations.
They also can help by discussing plans and exercises with children and
preparing children to participate in exercises and training programs.
I have a problem in our school with some
staff not wanting to get involved with exercises and emergency plans. Some have said, Im a teacher. Im here to
teach. How do you get people on board
so your program will be successful?
As in most
worksites, many school staff are reluctant to take
time away from their work to prepare for emergencies. Most people, in fact,
would prefer not to think about emergencies at all. But, not preparing for
emergencies will not make them go away. Fortunately, a little preparation can
go a long way towards minimizing damage. States and communities that have
engaged in emergency planning have found that practicing emergency plans has
helped in actual emergency situations.
Encourage your staff to get involved in the planning process. This will
give them an opportunity to influence plans for exercises or practice drills.
Ask staff for assistance and help. They might be able to develop creative ways
to build emergency planning into the basic curriculum. Also, look at staff contracts and consider
expanding them to include time for special projects, such as response and
planning measures.
Law enforcement and
school-based security must have a relationship in place that has, at its core,
the safety and welfare of students. In
conjunction with other key players (e.g., education, emergency management,
public health), law enforcement should be involved in every aspect of crisis
plan development and implementation.
They need to be at the table as the plan is developed; active
participants in drills and practices; and part of the team that regularly
reviews and makes changes to the plan.
How can the media (such as newspapers,
radio, and television stations) help supply accurate and helpful information to
the public?
During an
emergency, the public needs to understand both what government agencies and
officials are doing and what they need to do. School and community officials
can have workshops with the media before an event occurs. Accuracy is the main
concern. During an event, communities
can establish a joint communications center, where people from various agencies
can coordinate and share information with the public through a single
spokesperson. Holding daily media
briefings at a consistent time, coordinated across all agencies, can also be
helpful.
What plans do you have for
working with post-secondary institutions?
Just like K-12 schools, colleges and
universities should have plans for responding to all types of emergencies,
whether they are natural disasters, violent actions, or terrorist events. A comprehensive safety plan that involves public and
private agencies is crucial. Many
of the same components of a school-based emergency plan would apply to a
college plan. The college could also
consider how its plan is a part of the larger community response plan. Many of the resources in the resources list [ADD
LINK] for this teleconference can assist institutions of higher education in
addressing these issues. The National
Association of College and University Business Officers emergency preparedness
Web site [www.nacubo.org/business_operations/emergency_preparedness/] offers links to resources, including sample
college and university safety plans.
Im an elementary school principal. I think my students would be frightened if
something like this happens. What advice
do you have for calming them?
The key to
keeping students calm is training and practice, practice, practice. It is important to allow time for individuals
to be trained in how to respond should an event happen within their community
or school system. Knowing
what to do in an emergency helps to calm frightened students and staff.
What should I do if I receive a terrorist
threat?
If you
receive a threat by telephone or through the mail, remain calm. Panic and overreaction can create increased
risk of danger and harm. They can also
make it more difficult to contain a crime scene. If a threat is received in a letter or
package, gently place the item on the ground.
Remove yourself and others from the area, and keep the area
enclosed. Contact local law enforcement
authorities, by calling 911 or your local emergency call number, as soon as you
can.
What should school nurses do if, seeing
strange illnesses, they suspect possible terrorism?
In every
state, communicable diseases are reportable conditions to either the local or
state health departments. Unfortunately,
the release of biological agents might simply appear as the occurrence of an
unusual number of cases of a common illness or a single case of an
extraordinarily rare illness. It will be
dependent on medical staff, hospitals, local providers
of primary medical care, and school nurses who recognize that something is not
right to report that to their local and state public health officials. That report will be the sentinel event that
triggers an investigation. The speed with which the initial report is made will
determine, especially in person-to-person transmissible diseases, the number of
people ultimately affected.
Is
the CDC funding schools to do emergency preparedness planning?
CDC does not fund schools directly to do this. However, CDC recently sent funds to state
health departments to provide funding at both the state and local level. These funds are for bioterrorism
preparedness and response planning, and developing laboratory and epidemiologic
capability. Part of what is expected of
states and communities that receive the money is that they work with a broad,
community-based advisory group in developing their preparedness plans. Involvement of school districts and local
schools in these advisory groups is encouraged.
What kinds of assistance are available to
schools that are affected by terrorism?
The U.S. Department
of Educations Project SERV (SERV stands for School Emergency Response to
Violence) supports schools in which the learning environment has been affected
by a traumatic event. Project SERV funds
additional mental health services and additional security services to
supplement local resources. Project SERV
is designed to restore the learning environment. While this is a grant that no school really
ever wants to receive, those who have received funds under this program have
been grateful for them. Following September 11th, Project SERV funds
were sent to support efforts in the