The title slide is titled "Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools," focusing on strategies for handling emergencies in educational settings. Its subtitle, "A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety," positions the content as a practical resource for educators to enhance student protection.

Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools

A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety

Source: CBSE/NDMA Workshop

This section header slide introduces the topic of "Disaster Management" as the first section in a teacher's guide to school safety. It emphasizes protecting lives, ensuring the continuity of learning, and building resilience within schools during disasters.

Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools — A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety

01

Introduction to Disaster Management

Protecting Lives, Ensuring Learning Continuity, and Building School Resilience

Source: CBSE/NDMA Training Workshop

Disaster management in schools is essential for safeguarding students and staff from potential hazards while maintaining the continuity of educational operations during crises. It also fosters a culture of preparedness and rapid recovery, ultimately building long-term resilience and safety within school communities.

Why Disaster Management Matters in Schools

• Safeguard students and staff from potential hazards
• Maintain continuity of educational operations during crises
• Foster a culture of preparedness and rapid recovery
• Build resilience in school communities for long-term safety

Schools commonly face disasters like fires, earthquakes, floods, storms, lightning strikes, and heatwaves, each posing unique risks such as structural damage, injuries, and health hazards. For instance, fires spread rapidly causing burns and smoke inhalation, while earthquakes lead to building collapses and falling debris injuries, and heatwaves result in dehydration and heatstroke.

Common Disasters in Schools

• Fire: Rapid spread causing burns, smoke inhalation, and structural damage.
• Earthquake: Sudden shaking leading to collapses, injuries from falling objects.
• Flood: Water ingress causing drowning, electrical hazards, and mold contamination.
• Storm: High winds and debris resulting in injuries and building damage.
• Lightning: Electrical strikes causing fires, shocks, and equipment failure.
• Heatwave: Extreme temperatures leading to dehydration, heatstroke in enclosed areas.

Source: NDMA School Safety Training

The slide titled "Vulnerability Hotspots" identifies key areas in a school or campus prone to risks. Classrooms and labs face fire, chemical spills, and structural hazards; playgrounds and assembly areas are vulnerable to weather events, falls, and crowd surges; while corridors, buses, and the canteen risk stampedes, traffic accidents, and slips.

Vulnerability Hotspots

• Classrooms and labs: Fire, chemical spills, and structural risks.
• Playground and assembly: Weather events, falls, and crowd surges.
• Corridors, buses, canteen: Stampede, traffic accidents, and slips.

Source: School safety

The slide outlines roles and responsibilities for school disaster management in a two-column format. On the left, it details pre-disaster planning and training, including the principal developing the SERP and leading the SDMC, teachers conducting drills, staff maintaining equipment, and others preparing proactively for resilience. On the right, it covers during and post-disaster response and support, such as the principal activating the command center, teachers leading evacuations, and collaborative efforts for counseling, damage assessment, and operational restoration.

Roles & Responsibilities

Source: NDMA School Safety Policy

The School Emergency Response Plan (SERP) agenda outlines key phases starting with the Alert Phase for detecting disasters and notifying authorities, followed by assembling a response team for coordinated action. It then covers executing the response plan with evacuation and safety measures, alongside diagrams for the communication chain and command hierarchy.

School Emergency Response Plan (SERP)

1. Alert Phase

Detect disaster and notify authorities immediately.

2. Assemble Response Team

Gather designated personnel for coordinated action.

3. Execute Response Plan

Implement evacuation, safety measures, and aid.

4. Communication Chain

Diagram showing information flow among stakeholders.

5. Command Hierarchy

Placeholder for organizational structure and roles. Source: Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools — A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety

The slide on Evacuation & Safety Protocols emphasizes quickly identifying safe exits and clear routes during emergencies, followed by gathering at designated assembly points outside. It also covers performing accurate student headcounts, reporting them, and using visual tracking tools to ensure accountability.

Evacuation & Safety Protocols

!Image

• Identify safe exits and clear routes quickly
• Gather at designated assembly points outside
• Perform accurate student headcount and report
• Visual tracking tools for accountability

Source: Wikipedia: Emergency evacuation

The Mock Drill Calendar slide outlines a timeline of school emergency preparedness exercises from January to May 2024, starting with a quarterly fire emergency drill in the assembly area led by teachers and SDMC. It continues with monthly earthquake evacuation in February, biannual flood response in March involving students and bus drivers, quarterly storm and lightning drill in April coordinated with local authorities, and an annual building collapse mock in May for the entire school community.

Mock Drill Calendar

January 2024: Fire Emergency Drill Conduct fire simulation in assembly area; quarterly frequency; responsible: teachers and SDMC. February 2024: Earthquake Preparedness Exercise Simulate earthquake evacuation from classrooms; monthly practice; led by principal and staff. March 2024: Flood Response Simulation Practice flood protocols in playground; biannual; involves students and bus drivers. April 2024: Storm and Lightning Drill Storm evacuation from corridors; quarterly; coordinated by teachers and local authorities. May 2024: Building Collapse Mock Simulate collapse response in labs; annual; responsible: entire school community.

Source: School Emergency Response Plan

The slide outlines best practices for creating Do’s & Don’ts posters focused on emergency preparedness, including fire safety with Stop-Drop-Roll icons and evacuation steps, earthquake infographics emphasizing Drop-Cover-Hold under sturdy objects, chemical spill guidelines to evacuate and alert responders, and flood advice to seek higher ground while avoiding water. It also recommends using simple icons and bold key actions to ensure quick recognition and clarity.

Do’s & Don’ts Posters

• Design fire posters with Stop-Drop-Roll icons and evacuation steps.
• Create earthquake infographics highlighting Drop-Cover-Hold under sturdy objects.
• Illustrate chemical spill guidelines: Evacuate area, alert responders immediately.
• Develop flood posters advising higher ground movement and water avoidance.
• Incorporate simple icons and bold key actions for quick recognition.

Seventy percent of schools lack basic emergency kits, contributing to the over 500,000 annual emergencies reported across India, where 1 in 4 involve injuries requiring quick response. However, having first aid and essential items can improve survival odds by 85%.

Emergency Kit Checklist

• 70%: Schools Unprepared

Lack basic emergency kits

• 85%: Improved Survival Odds

With first aid and essentials

• 1 in 4: Disasters Involving Injuries

Necessitating quick response kits

• 500K+: Annual School Emergencies

India-wide incidents reported Source: NDMA School Safety Policy

The slide outlines immediate physical first aid steps for teachers, including assessing injuries, stopping bleeding with pressure, ensuring a clear airway, checking for shock, and using the school kit while awaiting help, emphasizing that calm actions save lives. It also covers psychological support through active listening, reassurance, deep breathing exercises, monitoring trauma signs like withdrawal or anxiety, and connecting students to counselors to foster recovery and prevent long-term effects.

First Aid & Psychological First Response

Source: Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools — A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety

The slide titled "Parent-Teacher Communication Chain" outlines a structured approach for schools to communicate with parents during different phases of a disaster. It recommends sharing pre-disaster plans via apps and meetings, sending immediate alerts through calls and SMS during the event, and providing post-disaster updates on safety and reunification via email.

Parent-Teacher Communication Chain

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• Pre-disaster: Share plans via apps and parent meetings.
• During disaster: Send immediate alerts through calls and SMS.
• Post-disaster: Provide updates on safety and reunification via email.

Source: Crisis communication

The Safety Audit Checklist slide outlines key steps for maintaining a secure environment, including inspecting emergency exits for clear pathways and signage, checking the functionality of safety equipment like fire extinguishers, and verifying emergency contact lists and communication tools. It also covers reviewing and updating training records for staff and students, assessing classroom hazards with proper storage, and conducting a walkthrough to identify potential risks.

Safety Audit Checklist

• Inspect emergency exits for clear pathways and signage.
• Check safety equipment functionality, including fire extinguishers.
• Review and update training records for staff and students.
• Assess classroom hazards and ensure proper storage.
• Verify emergency contact lists and communication tools.
• Conduct walkthrough to identify potential risks.

This section header slide introduces Section 13 of the guide, titled "Interactive Elements," within the broader presentation on Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools. It emphasizes engaging the audience through activities designed to reinforce key learning points on school safety.

Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools — A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety.

13

Interactive Elements

Engage audience with activities to reinforce learning.

Source: CBSE/NDMA Training Workshop

This slide, titled "Quiz: Test Your Knowledge," presents a set of five quiz questions focused on school emergency procedures. The questions cover immediate actions during an earthquake, priority responses in a school fire, assembly points after evacuation, teachers' post-disaster responsibilities, and the frequency of conducting mock drills.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

• What is the immediate action during an earthquake in class?
• In a school fire, what is the priority response sequence?
• Where should students assemble after evacuation?
• What are key post-disaster teacher responsibilities?
• How often should schools conduct mock drills?

This slide introduces role-play scenarios using images to simulate disaster situations in small groups, encouraging participants to spot and discuss hidden risks in classroom environments. It emphasizes presenting group findings to promote interactive learning and applying those insights to real-world school safety planning.

Role-Play Scenarios & Spot the Risk

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• Use images to role-play disaster scenarios in small groups.
• Spot and discuss hidden risks in classroom environments.
• Present group findings to foster interactive learning.
• Apply insights to real school safety planning.

Source: Wikipedia: Emergency management

The slide titled "Teacher Reflection Prompt" presents a set of bullet points guiding educators to identify key risks in their school environment and propose strategies to enhance safety measures. It further encourages sharing personal insights on disaster preparedness, reflecting on past experiences and lessons learned, and suggesting improvements for emergency response plans.

Teacher Reflection Prompt

• Identify key risks in your school environment.
• Propose strategies to enhance safety measures.
• Share personal insights on disaster preparedness.
• Reflect on past experiences and lessons learned.
• Suggest improvements for emergency response plans.

The School Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) is structured with the Principal as Chairperson, alongside teachers for drills and training, staff for maintenance, and student representatives for awareness, with key roles in risk assessment, plan development, and resource allocation to promote school safety. Its tasks include creating School Emergency Response Plans (SERPs), conducting mock drills, and maintaining emergency kits, while coordinating with local fire, police, and health departments for joint exercises, resource sharing, and integrated rapid response to bolster community preparedness.

Forming the School Disaster Management Committee (SDMC)

Source: NDMA School Safety Guidelines

The slide, titled "National Guidelines Reference," features a quote from India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) emphasizing that schools must comply with national safety standards and provide mandatory training for teachers and staff. This ensures effective preparation and response to disasters, protecting student lives and maintaining educational continuity.

National Guidelines Reference

> Schools must prioritize compliance with national safety standards and implement mandatory training programs for teachers and staff to effectively prepare for and respond to disasters, safeguarding student lives and educational continuity.

— National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India

Source: NDMA School Safety Policy

The slide summarizes key school safety actions, including implementing SERP with monthly mock drills, conducting safety audits, maintaining emergency kits, fostering SDMC collaboration, communicating with parents, and prioritizing first aid, psychological support, and vulnerability awareness. It features a School Safety Pledge for individuals to commit to disaster preparedness and resilience, a call for teachers to own safety planning, a signing area, and a closing message urging commitment to drills, risk audits, and student inspiration for safer schools and stronger futures.

Conclusion & School Safety Pledge

**Key Actions Summary:

• Implement SERP and conduct monthly mock drills.
• Perform safety audits and maintain emergency kits.
• Foster SDMC collaboration and communicate with parents.
• Prioritize first aid, psychological support, and vulnerability awareness.

School Safety Pledge: 'I, [Name], pledge to uphold school safety by actively participating in disaster preparedness, guiding students through protocols, and promoting a culture of resilience and responsibility.'

Call to Ownership: Teachers, take charge of safety planning—your vigilance protects lives and learning.

[Placeholder: Pledge Signing Area – Print names and signatures below]

Closing Message: Safer Schools, Stronger Futures.

Call to Action: Commit today: Lead drills, audit risks, and inspire your students to own safety.**

Empowering Teachers for Resilient Schools

Source: Disaster Preparedness & Response in Schools — A Teacher’s Guide to School Safety