View this whitepaper in its entirety by downloading it here: http://bit.ly/2pbeRfL For decades, K-12 school officials have been relying on drills as a best practice for improving emergency preparedness in schools. A crucial component of emergency planning, drills are a safety training measure designed to familiarize students and staff with a school’s emergency procedures. They provide the opportunity to test procedures, reveal weaknesses in procedures, build staff and student awareness, improve response and coordination, clarify roles and responsibilities and improve individual performance.  In this presentation, NaviGate Prepared explores the current status quo on drills and shares new techniques to elevate them to better prepare students and faculty in emergencies.

1. IMPROVING
SCHOOL
SAFETY WITH
ENHANCED
DRILLS

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Improving school safety with enhanced drills
Encouraging interchangeable roles and staff initiation
Incorporate real-world scenarios or simulation exercises
Pair simulations with tabletop exercises

3. IMPROVING SCHOOL SAFETY
WITH ENHANCED DRILLS

4. COMMONLY PRACTICED K-12
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES*
• Shelter-in-place
• Lockdown
• Assemble and shelter outside
• Evacuate to safe haven
• Emergency student release/family re-unification
*Reminder: Drill requirements vary by law and state or
district regulation, in addition to evacuation procedures.

5. THE FIRST AND BEST LINE OF
DEFENSE FOR ANY SCHOOL
EMERGENCY IS A WELL-
TRAINED, HIGHLY ALERT STAFF
AND STUDENT BODY.

6. KEY PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
DRILLS
Create a dedicated safety team inclusive of a school administrator, school mental
health professional, school nurse and a selection of teachers, staff, security personnel,
parents and students. Among other duties, safety team members should identify the
most appropriate drills for the school’s individual culture and establish and
communicate designated roles and responsibilities for each drill.

7. KEY PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
DRILLS
Top considerations for making drills most effective:
1. Test the capacity of all involved in emergency response, highlighting building-level cooperation between
schools, police and first responders.
2. Treat drills as real emergencies with full and serious participation from all participants.
3. Practice frequently and in a realistic manner. Drills shouldn’t be scheduled based on when it is most
convenient or least disruptive.
4. De-brief after every drill to further enhance response skills.
5. Drills should be thoroughly evaluated and input should be collected from various drill participants.
6. Communication plans should include long-term follow-up to support sustainability and progression.

8. LOOK CLOSELY AT HOW SCHOOL
CULTURE AND CLIMATE MAY IMPACT
DRILL EFFECTIVENESS. EVERY DISTRICT
AND SCHOOL IS UNIQUE, THERE IS NO
‘ONE SIZE FITS ALL’ APPROACH WHEN
PLANNING AND EXECUTING DRILLS.

9. KEY PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
DRILLS
School community is important. Every school has its own community unique to the school’s
geographic area, size, layout of building and grounds, available resources and more. And, the
community should be oriented to school safety protocols. This includes clear roles and
defined responsibilities for all community members, such as teachers and support or specialty
staff, students, parents, first responders and so on. Additionally, collaboration within the
community is key – especially collaboration with public safety partners or first responders.
Other Factors:
• Student population: age, physical & mental disabilities, etc.
• School’s positive attitude towards safety

10. KEY PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
DRILLS
WHEN A CRISIS HITS,
REMEMBER THE
DRILLS!
*Tips based on recommendation by
the Massachusetts School Safety
and Security Task Force.
For School
Administrators/Teachers/Staff/
Students:
1. Trust one another, coordinate
appropriately and cooperate
completely.
2. Make informed decisions and
ensure actions correspond with
the type and intensity of the
incident.
3. Calmly communicate accurate
and appropriate information.
4. Remind staff and students to
stay calm.
5. Minimize student exposure and
keep unaffected students away
from the incident and medical
staging area.
6. Document action to provide
record of plan implementation
for aid with future planning.
For First Responders/Law
Enforcement:
1. Stay calm and remind
students to stay calm
and follow directions.
2. Follow the emergency
procedure or protocol;
adapt when necessary.
3. Protect students and
minimize their exposure
to the incident.
4. Provide students with
straightforward, factual
information.

11. CRISIS CAN HAVE EXTREME
EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN BODY.

12. KEY PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
DRILLS
To make effective drills even better,
administrators should explore ways to
incorporate enhanced decision making and
cognitive thinking. These enhancements
should encourage teachers, staff and
students to ‘think on their toes’ when
emotions may be high.
1. Encourage interchangeable
roles and staff initiation.
2. Incorporate real-world scenarios
or simulation exercises.
3. Pair simulations with tabletop
exercises.
Three recommended strategies for
this type of drill enhancement, include:

13. ENCOURAGE
INTERCHANGEABLE ROLES
AND STAFF INITATION

14. ENCOURAGE INTERCHANGEABLE
ROLES AND STAFF INITIATION
It is CRITICAL teachers, staff AND
students understand various emergency
response strategies and how to implement
them.
To help achieve this, administrators
can enhance drills by incorporating
interchangeable roles and staff
initiation. These enhancements
give drill participants the
opportunity to decide whether to
evacuate, barricade classroom
doors, counter-attack an armed
intruder and so on.

15. INCORPORATE REAL-WORLD
SCENARIOS OR SIMULATION
EXERCISES

16. INCORPORATE REAL-WORLD
SCENARIOS OR SIMULATION EXERCISES
Another highly effective strategy to
enhance drills is incorporation of
real-world scenarios or simulation
exercises. This helps give context
to drills, while removing the routine
action that often accompanies
drills.
EXAMPLES
Scenario Cards for various staff
members
Real world scenarios incorporating
‘surprise element’ twists
Simulations providing participants with
real-time information and other stimuli
Give CONTEXT TO DRILLS.
REMOVE THE ROUTINE.

17. PAIR SIMULATIONS WITH
TABLETOP EXERCISES

18. PAIR SIMULATIONS WITH TABLETOP
EXERCISES
The NASP and U.S. Department of Education recommend
that crisis preparedness exercises and drills progress
from basic activities, like discussion-based exercises to
more advanced drills and exercises, such as crisis
simulations.
Drills can be further elevated if necessary with full-scale
mock exercises, which take place in real-time and involve
the entire school community – actually deploying
resources. These exercises are the most time-consuming
activity and are designed to test collaboration among law
enforcement and emergency agencies and participants,
public information systems, communications systems
and equipment.
CRISIS PREPAREDNESS EXERCISES
AND DRILLS SHOULD PROGRESS
FROM BASIC ACTIVITIES….

19. TABLETOP
EXERCISES CAN
COVER A LOT OF
REAL-WORLD
SCENARIOS IN A
SHORT AMOUNT
OF TIME.

20. PAIR SIMULATIONS WITH
TABLETOP EXERCISES
Tabletop exercises allow schools to work
through simulation-type scenarios in an
engaging, active planning forum with
district and building crisis teams, public
safety and community agency partners
and other stakeholders.
Enhance relationships between the
school and first responders.
In-depth, constructive, problem-solving
discussions about existing emergency
response plans better facilitate an
understanding of emergency management
and planning concepts.
Walk drill participants through various
scenarios and the courses of action to be
taken before, during and after an
emergency.

21. PAIR SIMULATIONS WITH
TABLETOP EXERCISES
Drill Scenarios Practiced by Public Schools
For years, research has
suggested that for the best
chance of success in an
emergency, students and staff
must physically practice safety
procedures.
Practice makes perfect
when it comes to
effective drills.
SOURCE: Public school safety and discipline, 2013-14. U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics. May 2015. www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015051.pdf.

22. IMPROVE PROCEDURES -
DOCUMENT, TRACK AND
REPORT DRILL ACTIVITY. IT IS
NOW REQUIRED IN MOST
STATES THROUGHOUT THE U.S.

23. PAIR SIMULATIONS WITH
TABLETOP EXERCISES
Turn to easy-to-use drill documentation software.
Software helps administrators schedule drills for the year, receive
reminders on upcoming drills and missed drills, and save and print
drill schedules for submission to EMA’s or other regulatory bodies.
Administrators can also link drill logs to emergency management
plans, search district sites by drill type or date, quickly view drill
statistics, and ensure ongoing management of drills from one
school year to the next.

24. To access the long form whitepaper, visit here.
www.navigateprepared.com