Disaster and Crisis Management Plan
A teacher may eventually be faced with the question,
“Do I leave a seriously injured or trapped student behind in the classroom in
order to safely evacuate the remaining students?” Few questions can be more heart wrenching.
In such cases, a teacher must function much like an emergency medical team and perform triage. The teacher must make quick, on-the-spot judgments discerning the priority of injuries and what must be done first.
The
general rule of thumb is to prevent further injury or further entrapment. For example, after an earthquake a portion of the
classroom may have fallen and trapped a student under heavy debris. It may be better to evacuate the mobile students to the room
evacuation site and report the entrapment to the Fire, Search and Rescue Team
rather than have your existing mobile students attempt a rescue.
An aftershock or further cave-in may entrap more students, thereby
meaning the decision to save one may cost the lives of other students who could
have been saved. Often it is best
not to move an injured person; leave that job to the paramedics.
On
the other hand, if you believe that leaving the student behind could cause
death, it would be best to extract and move them. An unconscious student who
has a severe gash may bleed to death if left unattended. Therefore, it would be better to apply pressure and have some
students carry the injured student to medical attention.
You may fear that moving a student might cause spinal injury, but if the
room is on fire the student must be moved.
Leaving a student in a room requires quick reporting
so that the student can receive assistance as soon as possible.
Use the red cards as described below. If a student is in immediate
danger, and if it is unsafe or impossible for you to extract or move a student,
report it immediately by radio. For
example, if the trapped student is bleeding severely, use your radio to make a
report. The situation cannot wait for a written report to be
submitted.
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