Recommended Emergency Preparedness for AfterSchool Programs

1
Recommended Emergency Preparedness for
After-School Programs

• January 22, 2009

2
Programs should take reasonable precautions to
protect children in their care.
What level of preparation and care would I expect
if my child were in the program?

• As custodians of children, there is an implied
  duty of care.
• Ordinary prudence as opposed to a high level of
  prudence
• Reasonable precautions

3
Programs should take reasonable precautions to
protect children in their care.

• Elements of liability
• A legally recognized duty of care
• Breach of that duty (failure to do what is
  reasonably expected
• Damage resulting directly from the breach
• What standard will you be judged against?
• No regulations for after-school programs
• Compare to programs with similar characteristics
• Examples schools, daycares, youth
  groups,scouting, summer camps, etc.
• All these examples are governed by regulation

4
Programs should take reasonable precautions to
protect children in their care.

• Minus any regulatory standard, a reasonable
  approach is to extrapolate from similar programs.

After-SchoolPrograms?
Daycares
Public Schools
5
Programs should have an emergency plan.

• Plans demonstrate conscious preparation and
  recognition of hazards (reasonable prudence)
• Plan for reasonably foreseeable emergencies
• Examples
• Fire and building evacuation
• Lockdown and hostile intruder
• Natural disasters including earthquake, flood,
  tsunami, etc.
• Medical emergencies
• Severe weather requiring overnight sheltering
• Locally identified hazards

6
Programs should have an emergency plan.

• Recommended approaches
• Parallel school plan or incorporation into school
  plan
• Closely parallel typical and accepted school
  procedures
• Consult others (dont plan in a vacuum)
• Keep it simple
• Include important contact numbers
• Include reunification plans
• Identify personnel for key roles
• Orient all staff to the plan
• Have the plan available at all times

7
Staff and students should practice emergency
response procedures.

• Why practice?
• People respond as they have trained
• Drills help assure that staff and students
  respond as planned
• Identify problems or gaps in planning
• What is a reasonable standard?
• School or daycare standards recognized as
  reasonable
• Recommendations
• One drill per month
• Fire, Lockdown, and earthquake drills
• Local high-risk hazards
• Maintain a record of drills (in master plan)

8
Staff should be adequately trained for emergency
response and student care.

• Training helps ensure staff respond in a manner
  that meets the standard of care.
• Many school staff must have CPR/First aid
• Daycares must have one trained staff with each
  group
• Principals must have incident command training
• School and daycare staff must be oriented to
  emergency plans
• Recommended Training
• Lead staff should be trained in CPR/First Aid and
  ICS
• Sufficient staff trained in CPR/First
  Aid(trained staff member always with any group)
• Orient all staff to the emergency procedures
• Training for severe allergic reactions (Epi-pen)

9
Programs should have access to emergency and
first aid supplies.

• Standard of care requires minimal
  supplies/equipment
• Prepare for foreseeable emergencies
• No need for a large cache
• If on a school campus, inquire about access to
  their emergency supplies and equipment

10
Programs should have access to emergency and
first aid supplies.

• Recommended minimal supplies
• Flashlights and batteries (light sticks)
• Whistle(s)
• Student medical information and emergency
  contacts
• Copy of plan, paper and pencils
• Radio (battery-powered or hand-crank)
• Bucket(s) for latrine, plastic bag liners, toilet
  paper
• Waterless hand sanitizer
• Space blankets, wool blankets (stocking caps?)
• Garbage bags (emergency rain coats)
• Tarps or plastic sheeting
• Duct tape

11
Programs should have access to emergency and
first aid supplies.

• Recommended minimal supplies
• Water
• Food (granola bars or similar avoid peanuts)
• Scissors or EMT shears
• Leather gloves, goggles, masks
• Comfort foods
• Playing cards, games, activities
• First aid kits, non-latex gloves
• Suitable container