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What You Can Do During an Emergency

There are several things that you as a parent can do to assist the school in assuring the safety of your children. These things should be determined ahead of time and discussed with all members of the family.

Preparedness begins at home:

DEVELOP and practice a family disaster plan.

TEACH your child how to recognize danger signals such as smoke detectors, fire alarms and local community warning systems.

EXPLAIN how and when to call for help.

HELP your child memorize important family information: name, address, phone number, and where to meet in case of an emergency.

After a natural or man-made emergency:

DO NOT call the school.	Turn your radio to KCBS AM 740 and listen for damage reports. The school phone lines must be kept open for emergency comunications. Check the ALERT notice on this website.
DO NOT drive to the school	Parent cars could impede the ability of emergency vehicles to get to school. Your children need to understand the reasons for your not calling or immediately going to the school.
STAY at home or at work.	Once you leave your house or place of work, no one will be able to contact you if you become stranded and/or injured on the way.
WHEN IT IS SAFE to travel to the school:	DO NOT remove any student from campus unless you are listed on the child's Student Release Form. ALWAYS sign students out before removing them from the school. See: Student Release Advice for Parents. A Spanish version: Entrega de Estudiantes Consejo a los Padres.

If an earthquake or other disaster occurs while your child is:

Walking to school:	your child should	continue to school
Walking home:	your child should	continue home
In the neighborhood:	your child should	return home or go to a designated alternate home
Waiting for a bus:	your child should	return home or go to a designated alternate home
En route to school on bus:	the bus driver will	continue to school when it is safe to drive
En route home on bus:	the bus driver will	continue home when it is safe to drive

Activities to Calm Children

A first step for parents is to understand the kinds of fear and anxiety a child experiences. Recognize that a child who is afraid is afraid! A child may have distorted information and may make false assumptions about the causes of major events. These distortions can magnify the sense of fear and make the child more likely to have persisting emotional or behavioral problems. Parental understanding and helpful intervention can reduce the severity of fears and prevent more serious problems from developing. Listen to what your child tells you about his/her fears. Explain as well as you can about the disaster and about the known facts and encourge your child to ask questions or describe what they are feeling.

 

Immediately following a quake, fire, flood, terrorist attack or other disaster:

• Keep children as quiet as possible.
• Encourage deep breathing exercises.
• Sing familiar songs, such as carols, nursery rhymes, etc.
• Play word guessing games.
• Talk about happy memories that they can recall.
• Make a plan for what they will do over the next 24 hours.
• Whenever possible, give children tasks to perform as part of the response.
• Reassure children that you will keep them safe. Provide extra emotional support.
• Remind them that steps are being taken by state and federal government, the police, firemen, hospitals and others to make things safer.
• Mostly, keep children in their area, quiet, seated, and breathing deeply and regularly.
• Monitor and limit exposure to the media coverage of the events to decrease the traumatic power of explicit images.

Additional follow-up:

• Create a comfort zone; do what brings you together as a family.
• Make a deliberate effort to avoid inactivity and get back to routine.
• Indicate to the child that you are maintaining control.
• Be understanding but firm, be supportive, and make decisions for the child.
• Maintain discipline which sets boundaries that provide stability.
• As much as possible, STAY TOGETHER.

Other on-line resources for children:

• Helping Children Cope with Disaster from FEMA describes a child's reaction to disaster by age and how to meet their emotional needs.
• Helping Young Children Cope With Trauma from the American Red Cross
• Listen, Protect and Connect, psychological first aid after natural disasters for children, parents and other caregivers, from the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement.
• Suicide from Teens Health descrbes why some teens feel that dying is the only way out.
• FEMA for Kids lists six important things for children to remember after a disaster occurs.
• Helping Children After a Wildfire: Tips for Parents and Teachers from the National Association of School Psychologists
• School Safety Resources, a joint communication from the Sheriff's Department and the Marin County Office of Education to inform students, parents and staff about steps and resources to make our schools safe.
• Death and Grief, an article for teens from KidsHealth.

Resources for children en Español

• Por Que Me Siento Asi? from the American Red Cross
• Como Ayudar a los Ninos a Enfrentar Traumas from the American Red Cross
• 10 Maneras de estar  Preparado para un Desastre from the California Office of Emergency Services
• La Muerte y el Duelo, an article for teens from KidsHealth

Schoolwide Telephone Tree

A telephone tree provides a structural means of reaching the entire school community by phone. It is generally used only when it becomes necessary to notify all school families of a developing emergency. It is activated by the school district superintendent or site principal. All school families should be included in the telephone tree, which may be organized geographically, by grade, or by the hierarchical structure of the PTA/parent group. The success of a telephone tree requires advance planning, teamwork, and of course, operating telephones. Keep a standard telephone plugged into one outlet. It may remain in operation even when you are experiencing a blackout. Telephone messages should be kept short in an emergency. It is best to follow a brief script to assure that all necessary information has been communicated.  

Personal Preparedness

Emergency Basics: 

• Update the school's emergency form listing people to notify in case of emergency. Students will only be released to these people.
• Make certain the person who is responsible for your child has any necessary medication.
• Become knowledgeable in first aid procedures. Keep a first aid kit available.
• Have a flashlight and a battery-powered radio. Mark KCBS 740 on the dial.
• Know the location of electricity, gas and water valves and how/when to turn them off.
• Have your family participate in earthquake drills.
• Keep emergency preparedness kits up-to-date and stocked for at least 72 hours of food and water.
• Have a fire extinguisher. Check it annually.
• Keep emergency phone lists updated. Choose an out-of-state friend or relative who you and your family members can call after an emergency to report your whereabouts and conditions.

Places to obtain emergency preparedness materials:

Video

Video stores

Local Fire Departments

Libraries

Marin Red Cross

Marin County Office of Education (Instructional Materials Center)

Printed

Marin Red Cross

Marin Office of Emergency Services

Bookstores 

Local Fire Departments 

Supplies

Specialty stores that sell pre-packaged disaster kits

Marin Red Cross sells pre-packaged kits

Hardware stores

Training

Marin Red Cross offers disaster training classes

Many local Fire Departments offer neighborhood disaster training classes.  

Other personal preparedness resources:

• Common Earthquake Hazards and Hazard Reduction Procedures (on this website)
• Personal Preparedness for Those with Impairments (on this website)
• Get Ready Marin provides home and car supply checklists and other materials to help prepare for, survive through and recover from a disaster.
• A Guide to Organizing Neighborhoods for Preparedness, Response and Recovery, developed by the Center for Volunteer and Non-Profit Leadership of Marin
• Guide to Disaster Organizations and Resources from the Marin Interagency Disaster Coalition
• The Marin Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program provides basic training in emergency procedures to become self-sufficient for at least 72 hours following a disaster.  CERT is offered through many local fire departments: CERT San Rafael, CERT Corte Madera, CERT Mill Valley, Novato Homeowner Emergency Action Response Team (HEART), Southern Marin CERT and West Marin CERT
• Storms, Outages and Safety from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company
• FEMA Ready Emergency Supply List from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Links to individual and family preparedness recommendations from the Marin County Office of Emergency Services
• Help After a Disaster from FEMA describes individual assistance programs
• Providing for Your Animals' Needs During Disaster Times, a comprehensive three-part article by Diana Guerrero

School/Law Enforcement Partnership

The Marin County School/Law Enforcement Partnership is a committee representing education, law enforcement, probation, Health and Human Services, community-based agencies, the District Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the PTA. The Partnership was formed in 1994 to be proactive in a countywide effort to keep our schools and communities safe and provide healthy environments for all our students and families. Since the Partnership was established in 1994, it has been proactive in a countywide effort to keep our schools and communities safe and provide healthy environments for all Marin County students and their families.

While the information presented online by the Marin County School/Law Enforcement Partnership is directed to high school students, middle school is also an important time for parents to discuss safe and healthy behaviors.

• School Safety Resources for Students and Parents
• Protecting Our Children: Existing and recent legislation
• School/Law Enforcement Partnership Protocols

This web site was established through a generous grant from the Fireman's Fund Foundation.

MCOE Emergency Services

Comments or Suggestions | Technical Questions  http://mcoeweb.marin.k12.ca.us/EmerPrep/parents.html