The Importance of After School Event Safety and Planning

The benefits of after school programs

After school events and activities are beneficial to communities in so many ways, but how can we ensure the safety of students, staff, and families who are on campus outside of normal school hours?

The answer is OSCR360, a powerful and effective school safety tool designed to help with training, planning, preparation and review – both during and after the typical school day.

Wraparound childcare is an affordable way for parents to work a full day while their young children remain supervised. After school sports help students stay active and healthy. After school clubs keep young people engaged in learning new hobbies while developing friendships and social skills. Curriculum nights, open houses and PTSA nights all bring families together on school grounds.

For all their value, each of these programs and events also introduce unique challenges for organization and safety, which has prompted administrators to seek new strategies for keeping students, staff, and families safe.

After school event safety challenges

Maintaining after school safety can be difficult, especially with fewer staff members present, and physical spaces that get rearranged to accommodate specific events. The program leaders who are present may be unfamiliar with school safety protocols, and visitors to the campus may be unfamiliar with the building and grounds.

How can OSCR360 help with your after-school safety plans?

The patented OSCR360 system can document an entire campus in 360-degrees and generates a visual walkthrough. This can inform detailed safety plans. From there, OSCR360 can help staff effectively improve their own training, prepare for emergencies and regularly review their own response protocols.

The beauty of OSCR360 is that an entire safety team can virtually tour the campus in 360-degrees without leaving the room. As the team discusses, brainstorms, and writes emergency plans, they can use OSCR360 to help:

• Train and retrain on emergency protocol for an after-school event.
• Document and map out plans for individual school events. There is no limit to the number of OSCR360 projects that can be created.
• Identify evacuation routes, document procedures and note who is responsible for adhering to each element of the emergency plan.
• Determine where and how to reduce after school building access.
• Select which locations within the building are off-limits and how to contain them (i.e. locked doors, posted signage, security guards, cones, gates).
• Label security features and the whereabouts of medical equipment in each building.
• Identify and label security camera locations for quick access.
• Plan outdoor events: Where to station security? Where can visitors park? Which parts of the campus are off-limits?
• Identify where to post signage with clear procedures and rules for visitors.
• Organize and store related paperwork (i.e. signed contracts from outside organizations using district property).
• Document sporting event spaces and identify safety elements using a collaborative approach.

Training

OSCR360 makes it convenient and feasible to conduct staff training regularly. With OSCR360 Software, emergency plans can be reviewed as a large group presentation, in a small group meeting or even on a one-to-one basis anywhere on campus. 

Whether it be quarterly, monthly, or even weekly, OSCR360 can help schools:

• Conduct tabletop exercises (large group collaborative sessions to test, discuss, and improve current procedures).
• Securely share and review emergency plans with approved personnel, such as school resource officers and local law enforcement (who can then train on response procedures).
• Train athletic directors, coaches, staff chaperones and after school activity leaders in emergency procedures.
• Review key locations of keys, cameras, money being managed, reunification sites, parking areas, etc.
• Review procedures on a regular basis to ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.

School safety, planning and training for any emergency event are critical for schools. After school event safety for students and staff cannot be an afterthought. See how tools like OSCR360 can keep your community safe.

About L-Tron

For over two decades, L-Tron has partnered with first responders and government agencies to help them keep communities safe. We designed our patented OSCR360 specifically with school administrators and public safety in mind. From emergency preparation and training to crime and fire scene investigation and prosecution, OSCR360 encourages collaboration and efficiency among all stakeholders. We are proud to provide our OSCR360 clients with the tech support they need anytime, day or night. “Your success is our purpose.”