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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Tabletop Exercise Earthquake Division for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, and Institutional Research

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Rules of the Road Creativity/Group Problem Solving Use the knowledge and information available in the room Active Thinking Active Listening Active Participation Respect challenge ideas, not people Reality Check make the exercise real for you.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Agenda Introductions Scenario Description Hot Wash (Debrief) Action Planning

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Introductions

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu The Exercise Continuum Drills Tabletop Exercises Functional Exercises Full-Scale Exercises

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu How does a tabletop exercise work? Scenario-based discussion, guided by a facilitator Problems talked through without stress Evaluators selected to observe and offer feedback on the proceedings Policies, plans, and guidelines are updated

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu What is a tabletop exercise? Simulates an emergency situation in an informal, stress-free environment Initiates discussion of emergency guidelines Focuses on training and familiarization with roles, guidelines, and responsibilities

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu What determines the success of a tabletop? A successful tabletop leaves participants with: A positive learning experience Organizational learning Improvement action planning More effective policies, plans, and guidelines Improved preparedness

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines This exercise is designed to test the preparedness of the _____ to respond to a multi-agency, multi-site emergency event Following the exercise, there will be a debriefing time or Hot Wash Each participant will be given the opportunity to share his/her views on what worked well and what needs to be addressed in additional planning, training and/or drilling

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines (Continued) _____ISD/college policy shall govern all activities relating to the emergency event. The facilitator shall serve as the exercise referee and will provide any official interpretation of the exercise rules. Although we will not actually be contacting them, ISD/college and outside resources are available to assist you.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines (Continued) From time to time, there will be injections to the scenario. These are intended to further assess response to the exercise scenario. This is a learning experience.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Purpose To examine current policies, procedures, resources and actions in the context to a response to an earthquake in a school/college setting To promote greater understanding and ability to apply NIMS/ICS principles in a college setting To make improvements as identified as an outcome of the exercise

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Objectives To evaluate policies and procedures To evaluate command and control including communications procedures To identify resources needed vs. available To identify training needs To identify needed improvements and create an action plan to address those needs

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Demographic Overview On this slide, add bullets of information about the demographics of your school/college including but not limited to: Number of schools/facilities Types of schools/facilities Athletic facilities Student population Employee population

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu First Responder Resource Overview On this slide, add bullets of information about the first responder resources immediately available to your school/college, including but not limited to: Police Fire EMS

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Threat Assessment On this slide, add bullets of information about the known threats to your school/college including but not limited to: Internal threats External threats

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario ________________________ school is located at __________________________. In addition to the principal, the school has ___ faculty members, ___ full-time counselors, a nurse, ___ secretaries, ___ cafeteria workers, and ___ custodians. On any given day, ___ parent volunteers are also in the building. This morning, at 9:45 a.m., your community was struck by a severe earthquake. The earthquake has caused extensive damage to a large part of the community. All utilities are out. The school is currently lit by emergency lighting only. The area around the school office appears to have sustained only minor damage. Damage to the remainder of the building is undetermined as yet, but one custodian has radioed that _______________ has collapsed.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Continued You know from experience to expect multiple aftershocks, some of which may be severe. You also know from attending meetings with local officials that, in the event of a severe quake, it could take up to two days before first responders reach the school. You must organize to help yourselves and protect the students.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions What do you need to know? How do you find the information? What does your EOP direct? What are you going to do? What resources are needed?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions What actions will you take? Do you activate your school/college incident command? What is your ICS structure? What is your first concern in this situation? For what contingencies must you plan?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu ICS Structure Questions Who is the Incident Commander? Who is the Public Information Officer? Who is the Liaison Officer? Who is the Operations Chief? What other ICS positions will you activate and who will fill them?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #1 (four hours later) The area has experienced several aftershocks of moderate intensity. The aftershocks have caused additional collapse in the gymnasium area. Those who could evacuate the building have assembled in the designated area, and student accountability procedures are underway. The gymnasium has collapsed, and a class that was in the gymnasium at the time has not evacuated. There has been no communication with either the students or their teacher as of this point.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #1 Continued Several students were injured when they were struck by falling debris. One teacher was struck by flying glass and is seriously injured. A custodian has suffered what appears to be a heart attack. Several students who are asthmatic are reporting difficulty breathing, and the school nurse left the building without taking student medications. These injuries and illnesses are overwhelming the staff members who are assigned to the Medical Group.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #1 Continued There are no reports of fires as of yet. The phone system is out because of the electricity interruption. You can see that a water main two blocks from the school has ruptured. Damage to the community that is visible from the campus looks severe.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions How does this new information change your planning? Where will you locate the medical area? How will you communicate with first responders and others who need information about your situation? Given your current staffing, the amount of known damage, and your knowledge of your school and school plan, for what contingencies must you plan?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions How does your school plan address provision for: Food? Blankets? Items to occupy the students?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #2 (four hours later) Because of the obvious damage in some areas of the community, it is becoming apparent that at least some students will have to spend the night. An aftershock has caused further collapse of the building, including the area designated as the pickup point for parent/student reunification. A few parents have arrived and are unsure about what to do. One of the parents children is trapped in the gymnasium collapse.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #2 Continued The custodian has died as has one of the asthmatic students. The teacher who was injured is unconscious and has only a faint pulse. Also, there is still no word on the students and teacher who are in the collapsed gymnasium. Friends of the trapped students are crying.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Inject #2 Continued The aftershocks have caused panic among the special education students who are not entirely aware of everything that is going on and why. Their teacher has sent an aide to the Command Post asking for assistance quickly. You have contacted the 9-1-1 dispatcher but all response personnel are currently deployed in other areas. The dispatcher is unsure when trained responders will arrive.

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions What will you do with the remains of the custodian and the student? What documentation does your school plan require in the case of these fatalities? How does your school plan address the potential liability issue in the case of the student death?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions How are you handling parent/student reunification? What staff is available to help the special education teacher?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions What should you do to calm the parent of the child in the gym? How will you handle the students and staff who must spend the night? What will you do about nighttime staffing at the Command Post?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash How well did your EOP operate and what actions will you take toward improvement? How well did your ICS Team operate and what actions will you take toward improvement? How well did your Communications Plan operate and what actions will you take toward improvement?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash What can be done to improve campus police/security operations? What internal divisions were required to work together in this scenario? What external agencies did the Liaison Officer need to work with in this scenario? Are all necessary agreements in place to facilitate cooperation among agencies?

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Action Plan The lessons learned during this table top exercise will lead to a college action plan to: Keep Doing ______ Stop Doing ______ Start Doing ______

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Conclusion The Texas School Safety Center, Division for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, and Institutional Research is available for: Training/Facilitation Technical Assistance Information

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Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Contact Us Web: www.txssc.txstate.edu Phone: 877-304-2727