NCJ Number
200285
Journal
Campus Safety Journal Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2003 Pages: 16-18
Date Published
May 2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article presents six recommendations for the use of trained school crisis team personnel to address the acute phase of a large security incident on campus.
Abstract
Large-scale crises create unanticipated conditions that overwhelm normal emergency procedures and protocols on campus. In such cases, the school crisis team should provide administrative consultation to school decisionmakers who are working with incident commanders in dealing with the stress-related effects of decisions upon staff, students, and parents. Further, the crisis team should assist in managing student, staff, and parent behavior at key locations during the emergency; this is because panic, rage, or hysteria is contagious. In addition, crisis team personnel should be used during the emergency phase to help reduce hysteria, to identify and separate those with acute psychological needs, and to accompany parents in the event of on-site death notifications. The crisis team can also assist in setting up a community center for distressed students; this should be established at a location away from the incident site. Two other recommendations are to assign school crisis response team personnel in triage areas and hospitals where possible, as well as assign them to assist teachers who need extra help. The foregoing suggestions will allow crisis team members to be used during the emergency itself in order to multiply the efforts of emergency personnel. In fulfilling the aforementioned functions, campus crisis team personnel can provide welcome support for first responders and campus administrators.