District revises its emergency manual
by Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
Teachers in South Brunswick are always working to keep up with the latest techniques in education. Now there’s a way they can keep up to date on how to save someone’s life.
The school district has updated its emergency response step chart and expects to have it distributed to staff members in the coming weeks, said James Warfel, district director of human services.
Some of the updates include medical emergency response, protocol for natural disasters and lockdowns, prevention of possible suicide as well as a change in the color coding for easier navigation through the chart, he said.
The addition concerns how to respond to cardiac arrests.
Although automatic external defibrillators, devices used during cardiac arrest, have been in the schools for almost three years, district officials have put the procedure in writing.
He said more specifically the step chart offers instructions on contacting a team of school nurses, administrators and volunteer staff that are trained in using the defibrillators and in CPR.
”It gives basic guidelines in case (staff) come in contact with someone in cardiac arrest,” Dr. Warfel said.
Some of the natural disaster management and lockdown procedures have been brought up to speed in the new chart as well.
Information regarding the new lockdown policies which would be used in the event of a threat to students’ safety cannot be released to anyone but district staff to avoid the protocols falling into the wrong hands, he said.
As for district staff handling attempted suicides, the step chart is very specific on the procedure in this area, he said.
These procedure have already been put into action as a result of incidents the district has encountered in the past, Dr. Warfel said.
”It’s certainly not out of our experience to have a student say, ‘My friend has been making comments about hurting themselves’,” Dr. Warfel said.
Some of the procedures included in the charge include notifying the appropriate staff, keeping the child under supervision and eventually, referring the individual to a guidance counselor.
The final retouches on the updated step chart are the color, which have been swapped from gold and yellow to red and white, Dr. Warfel said.
Red was meant to emphasize the emergency procedure and white was chosen because it’s easy to read, he said.
The step chart was last updated in 2002 and although Dr. Warfel said he is seeing the process through, he gave most of the credit for the new revisions to his predecessor, George Scott.
”Many of these are not new procedures,” Dr. Warfel said.
”It’s not only about substance, but having it up to date and making sure that each staff member has access to it,” he said.
In the following weeks every teacher, bus driver and custodian will have a step chart in their possession, Dr. Warfel said.
”Emergency preparation is everybody’s responsibility that works in the school,” he said. “You never know which person will be in the middle of the crisis.”