Common Language during School Emergencies
Following a tragic school shooting in Bailey, Colorado in 2006, the “I Love U Guys” Foundation was born. Their goal is to educate and offer training programs that keep students and faculty safe.
This led to the creation of the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), which contributes to school safety by providing common practices, common language, and common materials for schools to use in the event of an emergency. The “I Love U Guys” foundation provides SRP materials to schools, agencies, and organizations, free of charge.
During an incident, the SRP dictates that the school community will receive communication from administrators with a precise action and directive to follow, according to the type of incident at hand.
The five SRP action words are: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter.
The SRP Action: Lockdown action is followed by the directive “Locks. Lights. Out of Sight.”
During the SRP Action: lockdown, individual rooms are to be secured, and students are to stay quiet and hidden. A school may go into lockdown for a number of scenarios, such as:
- Potential violence from an intruder.
- A weapon located on site.
- Angry parents (i.e. custody dispute) on school grounds.
Lockdowns are issued when student and staff safety is threatened inside of the school building. Students and staff are to lock or barricade themselves within the room and hide quietly until help arrives to safely release them.
OSCR360 Partners with Schools and First Responders
Preparing school safety procedures is a huge undertaking that requires both planning and cooperation between school administration, school staff, and local first responders.
OSCR360 enables districts to develop and add clarity to their written plans with the addition of a visual walkthrough. These plans are easily sharable for collaboration.
The OSCR360 Desktop Software allows users to virtually walk through the campus and school buildings. These allow for an easy way to visually share emergency plans, identify potential problems within the plans, and easily mark relevant points of interest. These points of interest might include security cameras, double locking doors, medical equipment, fire alarms, and more.
Schools have the ability to share their OSCR360 Emergency Plans, free of charge, with approved parties, such as local law enforcement, for collaboration, training, and emergency response.
How does OSCR360 help plan for the SRP Action: Lockdown?
With OSCR360, schools and first responders have access to both visual and written plans. Here are a few ways that OSCR360 can be particularly effective during a lockdown:
- Identify and label emergency response plans. Show how emergency responders access the building, and how to access security systems. For example, remotely locking/unlocking doors to promote quick response times.
- Identify and label “safe zone” spaces within each classroom that are out of sight from interior windows. Share this information with teachers and students to practice during drills.
- Identify and label potential problem areas, such as spaces with open layouts or student populations that may require extra help.
- Consider furniture layouts and potential barricades within the physical space, as well as closets and bathrooms that may be of use.
- Notate where security cameras are located and the view provided by each camera.
- Train officers with OSCR360 plans. Empower them with knowledge of the building/campus layout before an emergency occurs, facilitating a fast and confident tactical response.
L-Tron is here when you need us
We firmly believe that the OSCR360 system can make a positive difference in school safety. If you’re interested in demoing OSCR360, you can check us out at an upcoming school safety conference or give us a call today.
The L-Tron Support Team is available 24/7/365 for our OSCR360 clients. Your Success is Our Purpose.
