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Basic Emergency Procedures
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The safety and welfare of our students and their families are of major concern to the Cardiff School District Board of Education and to all District personnel. Our location in Southern California has made us keenly aware of the potential dangers from disasters such as earthquakes. It is essential that a safe and orderly environment be restored following an emergency or critical incident; for this reason, we actively plan, rehearse, and evaluate our state of readiness and ability to successfully cope with any emergency. Our efforts will include the following three areas so that parents/guardians are aware of and support the procedures that the District will adhere to in a time of disaster.
We will:
1. Instruct our students in earthquake preparedness and in-school emergency procedures designed to maximize student safety in a disaster.
2. Prepare our personnel to respond to an emergency according to predetermined procedures designed to prevent injuries and give care and support to students.
3. Communicate with parents about the school disaster preparedness procedures so that in an emergency, school and home can work cooperatively in the best interest of students.
What Can You Expect Schools To Do
- The first priority of every staff member will be to immediately account for and attend to the needs of every student.
- Because we know that the safest place for your children in an emergency during the school day is on the school campus, children will be kept in the safest location on the school grounds until they can be reunited with their families.
- The school will use our Automated Phone System to call parents’ emergency contact numbers with the latest emergency and student pick-up information.
- The school will immediately allow parents on campus to reunite with their child, but will not allow any child to be removed from school grounds unless signed out by an individual authorized on the child’s emergency card.
- The evacuation of students from the school campus will be considered only when authorities have determined that occupation of the school campus is unreasonable due to unsafe conditions.
- Staff members will work cooperatively with Law Enforcement, Fire Safety, Civil Defense, and the American Red Cross to assure collaboration in providing effective emergency services for the school and the community
- Your children will be instructed in emergency procedures for earthquake and other disasters, and will have regularly scheduled opportunities to practice such maneuvers as “Duck, Cover, & Hold”, building evacuation and campus lock-down drills.
- School buildings are designed and constructed to meet the highest earthquake structural standards and should withstand all but the most severe earthquake.
What Parents Can Do To Help
- Make certain that your child’s school emergency card is accurately and completely filled out and returned to the school. Call the school office promptly to correct any obsolete information (for example, a change in your work or cell telephone number).
- In the event of a disaster, listen completely to the message left by the Districts’ Automated Phone System and monitor the Emergency Broadcast System for information related to schools.
- Avoid excessive phone calls, including cell (wireless) phone calls, as they interfere with essential emergency communication and easily overtax the equipment capacity resulting in a nonfunctional system.
- Realize that school sites have a high priority in local law enforcement, fire safety, and Civil Defense plans and your children are likely to have better access to any emergency services on a school campus than they would in most other locations.
- If your child receives regular medication at school, assure there is an adequate supply maintained at all times.
- Discuss with your children the emergency training they have received at school, give your support by stressing its importance, and encourage them to cooperate with school staff members, both in practice drills and in the event of a real emergency.
- NEVER remove your child from campus without signing him or her out. If someone else will be picking up your child in an emergency, they must be identified on your child’s emergency card or have a written note signed by a parent.