The first ten minutes of a crisis often determine how a community reacts to the challenge. What are five or six steps that a school leader might take during this vital time-frame? Communication is a critical part of the aforesaid crisis response. What characteristics and skills should be considered when choosing a spokesperson for a crisis? What is the most important ability needed?
The actions taken during the first ten minutes of a crisis are very important. Here are some actions that need to take place by the school administrator. First you must gather as much information as quickly as possible. What is the crisis? Who is in danger? These are the types of questions you need to get answered as soon as possible. Next you must make sure that the proper emergency personel have been contacted. This action many times will go hand and hand with the third step which is implement the emergency action plan. The emergency action plan should have a procedure to contact the emergency agency needed for the situation. If you are not the superintendent, then he/she must be notified. As a school leader, you must then monitor the situation the best you can. It is important to keep a record of events that taken place. The last thing is to determine what the next step or steps that needs to take place. Again, this should be pre-determined by the emergency action plan. The need for a detailed action plan is crucial in times of crisis. When choosing a spokesperson for a crisis there are a few things a school must consider. This person should have prior experience of dealing with the media. The general rules for working with the media still apply even in times of crisis. The spokesperson should be calm and stick to the facts. This is a person who is organized and can stay on message. The most important ability needed by the spokesperson is to never give up control of the press conference or interview. This is done by sticking to the facts that are known and avoiding things like opinions, hearsay, rambling on, etc.
ReplyDeleteDan, I like what you said, about the spoksperson staying on the message and not giving up control of the press conference - sometimes we must respond to the question that we wish they would have asked rather than the question that they really asked. DRJ
ReplyDeleteIn any crisis situation, inside the scope or outside that of education, it is the actions of the first responders that will directly affect the outcome and lasting results. Triage is the fast paced assessment tool designed to identify importance of given items or effects and establishing first action steps to be taken from initial assessment on. In the event of a crisis, the first step to be taken is to initiate information sharing with all necessary departments (calling 911). Even with limited information, that usually the case in the early stages of a crisis, it is important to start the communications ball rolling. It is said in emergency services that they would rather be called and turned around in route then the call be delayed and the delay leading to negative situational outcomes. The second step is the process of information gathering. The information should be attained by the administrator or administration team, acting calmly and holding off on the dissemination of information until facts have been established. The communication to the public should be conducted through an appointed person and all information should be passed through this individual to limit rumors and maintain control of the situation. This position is established within all emergency service departments and the school spokesperson should work as a collaborative team with their public information officers to not only share pertinent information but also to limit early release of information by any department. Third, the administrator must inform the district office of situation to see if they need to initiate their information process and become involved. As a school administrator, it is your responsibility to ensure both scene safety and act as a district official on the scene of the situation. With the scene secured and information process under way the administrator will then be tasked with the responsibility of establishing roles for his or her staff to take in the crisis situation, beyond crisis plan. They must act to both aid in the efforts of involved departments and not hinder either scene safety or operational performance of safety personal. In choosing a designated spokesperson for the school in the event of a crisis it is important to identify an individual that is not the administrator on staff, as they will be involved in other aspects of crisis management. The individual must be able to keep a level head in moments of crisis. These events may involve their friends and their students so the ability to maintain control in media interactions is both difficult and vital to the success of information sharing. The spokesperson must be able to focus on the facts of what has and is happening and not report rumors or unconfirmed information. They must be able to work with other agencies and be able to identify facts that my, if presented, have a negative effect on the educational community or the situation as it unfolds. The media will press the spokesmen for more information and this individual must be able to stand up to them for the best interest of the school and the situation’s outcome. To maintain a calm communication between the school and the media is the most vital aspect of a spokesperson, allowing the professionals to conduct their responsibilities free of outside interference and resulting in the best possible outcomes.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is extremely hard to plan for every type of crisis situation, it is essential to have a plan that answer the question of "what do we do now?" when a crisis occurs. Accordingly, thinking through the first several steps in any given crisis beforehand is a worthwhile activity for a school leader to partake in.
ReplyDeleteIn the first ten minutes, there are several important steps that must take place:
- Call 911: An obvious first step. Depending on the crisis, it can be tempting to hold off on doing this to keep the crisis away from the media. The school leader must be looking out of the safety of the students and staff of his school first; rather than the reputation.
- Obtain all of the facts: The school must get to the scene of the crisis as quickly as possible to make sure he/she has all of the relevant information and can make the quick decisions necessary to protect students and staff.
- Make sure students are safe: Whether it be getting the students outside of the building or initiating "lock down" inside classrooms.
- Deliver necessary information to the right personnel. If the school leader is also the superintendent (as is the case with many charter schools), this leader should make sure his/her leadership team has the information they need to assist with crisis management.
- Communicate honestly and openly with media if/when they arrive.
The school spokesman in a crisis should be a person who handles themselves calmly in high pressure situations and can make quick, intelligent decisions on the fly. If possible, the spokesman should also be the school leader, however, depending on the situation, the school leader should appoint another person on the leadership team to be spokesman so the school leader can focus all of his/her attention on tackling the crisis.
Keeping your thoughts and understanding during a crisis are first and foremost fundamentals to effectively communicate exactly what is going on. There’s no doubt that being placed in a volatile situation is frightening and renders many vulnerable and helpless. As leaders, it’s important that we establish a crisis management plan. Establish protocols to follow to lessen the impact of a crisis. Here are a few steps I would institute. Establish a systematic approach to identify, refer or intervene with students or agencies. Orient staff to procedures and training to fill designated roles and conduct battle drills. Provide pertinent information to students, staff and community. Provide assistance during a crisis in accordance with designated roles and follow up. Conduct after action reviews at the conclusion of each crisis incident to critique the effectiveness of how we executed our plan. Conduct any additional training needed for our shortcomings if needed. Your spokesperson you select should always be prepared to address the crisis and has built a positive relationship with the media. Building and earning the trust of local media is something to be valued. Media is the fastest and easiest way to get a message to the public and cultivating a good relationship is good policy and can only enhance acknowledgement of the school, the district and the community.
ReplyDeleteThe first ten minutes of a crisis may seem like an eternity, but will be gone fast and the actions taken in that short time may shape the rest of the crisis. Once it is determined that the situation necessitates the Emergency Action Plan the steps should fall in place without taking the time to think about it. After all that is why we have plans, to help people think during a crisis. The first step should always be to notify law enforcement. Second would be to initiate the Emergency action plan. Thirdly, notify the Superintendent. Next, gather as many facts as possible. Support law and emergency teams on scene and lastly communicate with crisis teams and parents.
ReplyDeleteA spokesman should be able to follow a predetermined plan as well as be able to think on their feet and watch for pitfalls the media may throw at them. They need to be calm and collected under pressure and not make unplanned comments that could lead to trouble for the District. The spokesperson needs to be prepared for comment sessions and not speculate, give opinions, repeat hearsay, use jargon, or give out personal information of the victims. The spokesperson should always have an exit line before starting an interview. Above all the spokesperson needs to be calm and well prepared prior to meeting the media.
Dealing with a crisis is an event that can happen at any time. Some of the key players are the principal, the teachers, the students, and the parents. Ancillary staff are a vital link in the design of any crisis plan and need to be informed along with the board of how this plan will be executed.I think that one way to make sure that your school staff is ready is to focus on preparation through trainings that are held at during professional development days. One staff member is to make sure they carry a list of phone numbers of staff with them as they exit the school. Secondly, a unified voice or speaker needs to be designated to speak and prepare communications for all concerned parties. Emergency personnel need to have the building doors clearly numbered in order to speed up reaction time to an emergency or crisis. Lastly, a command center needs to be established in a location that all parties are made aware of during their initial trainings. The local post office can help develop a secure location for the building in the event an administrator is not available to help expedite the emergency response team's access to keys to the building. Be prepared by attending mock training events, be familiar with communication procedures, and rely on those individuals to lead the school through the crisis.Preparation and practice will make all of the school staff execute crisis intervention in a uniform way.
ReplyDeleteAssuming you are the school leader of a charter school, you won’t have a district office to support your response to a crisis. You and your staff must cover all aspects of the crisis response plan.
ReplyDelete1. Determine the facts to determine the scope of response needed. The response for a student having a severe asthma attack is very different from an act of violence (such as a shooting) or a threat of violence in the building. A slightly different response is appropriate for weather or utility-related events.
2. Assuming this incident involves a threat of violence to staff and students, notify appropriate public safety agencies who will verify whether a lockdown procedure must be implemented. Take action to secure the safety of students and staff.
3. Notify school’s incident response team to implement crisis response plan (including code notification to staff through redundant communication systems such as intercom, emergency email system, text, and telephone
4. Notify parents of the incident and clarify what action – if any – the parents should take
5. Contact appropriate media
6. Determine whether internal video systems should be shut down to prevent intruder(s) from viewing areas of the building.
With no district office to supply support in crisis situations, charter schools must be especially diligent in assuring that the staff is well trained for their roles in crisis management. That goes double for leadership roles. In fact, the school principal may wind up serving as spokesperson. The spokesperson must be able to convey concern without showing panic. He or she must stick to the facts and resist editorializing. The spokesperson must be available to the media and must have a plan to manage the contacts and must be able to follow direction from the public safety agencies that take command of the school during the crisis.
The first ten minutes of a crisis can be the most impactful as to how others view the leader of a school as effective or ineffective in situations of crisis. The leader must remain calm and:
ReplyDelete(1) assess the situation-get all critical facts to determine next steps. It is important to gather as many facts as possible to ensure you don't jump to a hasty decision for a next step. The next step for a fire partially contained in the school's main office would be different from a blaze going through the trailers or a student having a severe allergic reaction to peanut butter.
(2) alert proper individuals-911,home office(superintendent/CEO), parents, internal leadership (not necessarily in this order depending upon the crisis)
(3) adhere to the emergency action plan while monitoring the situation closely- (alerting staff of lock downs or evacuations), monitoring surveilence or shutting down in certain locations, etc.
During a crisis a spokesperson should be chosen that is able to remain calm during a situation and is able to articulate the facts in an effective manner. The spokesperson should generally not be the school leader in order for the leader to continue to maintain and monitor the situation. This may require constant communication with staff, parents or home office officials. The spokespersom must be able to follow a prescibed model for delivering information and understand how to respond when questions are asked about information that is not available at the time or should not be disseminated at the time which is why it is necessary for this person to be in constant communication with school leaders.
I appreciate everyone's responses. Unfortunately, we recently had real crises occur at our school. What made it worse for me though was that my children were at the school.
ReplyDeleteI received a call one morning before school at started from someone in the central office letting me know that a kid brought in a hand grenade to school. My first thought was that it wasn't real but you cannot make those types of assumptions. So the first thing I would say to do is treat every threat or every encounter as genuine to be on the safe side. Denial can be something an easy reaction to have but there is nothing more important than the safety of the kids.
We called the police immediately and upon arrival they deemed that the device looked real and called the bomb squad in. The child's response to this was that he didn't pull the pin so it was "okay."
The bomb squad later determined that it had been a hollowed out piece of military surplus so from the outside, there was nothing to indicate that it wasn't genuine.
I'd like you guys to consider this from another perspective too. In a violent situation or one where you have a real fight or flight response some things happen physiologically that you should be aware of. I learned about this in an NRA course.
"...two things the mind does - (#1) it wants to focus on the threat and does this by narrowing the field of view to a small area (tunnel vision) and (#2) not hearing extraneous noise (tunnel hearing). As a result, two of our most important senses (sight and hearing) are compromised. Knowing to expect it, allows an operator to correct the mind for it. Because the field of view is narrowed and you may not be able to hear your opponent(s), move your eyes more. Make an effort to scan the area."
It can be very confusing in a time of crises and you may not think the same way you do when you are calm. So I would definitely say have a written plan of action somewhere you can get to it quickly. Follow the steps in your plan as outlines because you may not have the wherewithal to think clearly. You may want to have a couple different plans laid out for different scenarios.
The last thing I would mention is that because of auditory exclusion and tunnel vision, your brain may not remember things the exact way they happened. Be aware that there can and will be differing accounts of what happened. People may even see colors differently. Situational awareness is very important and probably is something that needs to be practiced.
Sorry about being so grim...but I think its valuable to consider things this way.
Jason
I appreciate everyone's responses. Unfortunately, we recently had real crises occur at our school. What made it worse for me though was that my children were at the school.
ReplyDeleteI received a call one morning before school at started from someone in the central office letting me know that a kid brought in a hand grenade to school. My first thought was that it wasn't real but you cannot make those types of assumptions. So the first thing I would say to do is treat every threat or every encounter as genuine to be on the safe side. Denial can be something an easy reaction to have but there is nothing more important than the safety of the kids.
We called the police immediately and upon arrival they deemed that the device looked real and called the bomb squad in. The child's response to this was that he didn't pull the pin so it was "okay."
The bomb squad later determined that it had been a hollowed out piece of military surplus so from the outside, there was nothing to indicate that it wasn't genuine.
I'd like you guys to consider this from another perspective too. In a violent situation or one where you have a real fight or flight response some things happen physiologically that you should be aware of. I learned about this in an NRA course.
"...two things the mind does - (#1) it wants to focus on the threat and does this by narrowing the field of view to a small area (tunnel vision) and (#2) not hearing extraneous noise (tunnel hearing). As a result, two of our most important senses (sight and hearing) are compromised. Knowing to expect it, allows an operator to correct the mind for it. Because the field of view is narrowed and you may not be able to hear your opponent(s), move your eyes more. Make an effort to scan the area."
It can be very confusing in a time of crises and you may not think the same way you do when you are calm. So I would definitely say have a written plan of action somewhere you can get to it quickly. Follow the steps in your plan as outlines because you may not have the wherewithal to think clearly. You may want to have a couple different plans laid out for different scenarios.
The last thing I would mention is that because of auditory exclusion and tunnel vision, your brain may not remember things the exact way they happened. Be aware that there can and will be differing accounts of what happened. People may even see colors differently. Situational awareness is very important and probably is something that needs to be practiced.
Sorry about being so grim...but I think its valuable to consider things this way.
Jason
During these vital minutes a school leader should first notify staff that a crisis is taking place. The intercom system would probably be most effective. Staff should be informed to follow the Emergency Action Plan that should have already been discussed in prior meetings.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note the school I work at had a crisis a couple years ago where some guys robbed a bank close to our school and were headed our way. Our school went on lock down which is our term for Emergency Action Plan. Well our substitutes didn’t know what that meant. So some just continued to teach as normal some were coming into the hallways to ask what to do. They didn’t follow any of the procedures that we are supposed to do on a lock down because no one had informed them on what those were. When we were having all our trainings on lock down procedures no one thought about what if we are out the day something happens. When you make sub plans you don’t think about a crisis occurring. So now it is mandatory that all emergency procedures be left for the subs. Now if another incident occurs they will know what to do. Luckily the bank robbers did not come to our school and were caught but you learn a lot of things you have to make better when a real crisis occurs. More so then when you’re just doing drills.
After notifying staff the next step would be to report the incident to local authorities probably by dialing 911. Then depending on what is taking place the school leader needs to decide to lock or evacuate the school. He/she need to designate a control area and start keeping a record of the time and sequence of events and also log all phone calls made and received.
When choosing a spokes person to explain to the community what has taken place, if it cannot be the school leader, I would pick someone who is articulate and well spoken. Someone who can communicate the facts without letting emotions get in the way and someone who is used to dealing with the media.
The first ten minutes a leader should do during a crisis are activate the emergency action plan that first consider the safety and security of students and staff, report the incident to the appropriate authority, decide whether to lock and secure or evacuate the building, provide first aid until ambulance or rescue units arrive, verify what has happened, and notify the superintendent's and/or district communications office.
ReplyDeleteThese characteristics and skills should be considered when choosing a spokesperson for a crisis should be perceived credible by media and public, be flexible, great communication skills and technical knowledge, be an authority, be able to relay technical information in lay terms, be sensitive and empathetic, and accept constructive feedback. What is the most important ability needed is the great communication skills.
Marie H. says...
ReplyDeleteThe first five or six steps that a school leader might take during the vital time-frame, the first ten minutes of a crisis, is to begin taking a deep breath and alerting the authorities by calling 911. Second, canvas the incident and get as many details as possible about what has happened and who it has happened to. Then send emergency personnel on campus to safe sites to begin helping or treating those that need assistance. Third, make sure that the education facility has begun its plan of action for crisis situations. This means that all personnel and students should be notified that there is a situation that is in need of the emergency plan to be put into action. Fourth, alert all school officials, like the superintendent, as soon as possible. Let them know what has been observed, learned, done already, and listen for impertinent information that will help further govern the crisis. Fifth, maintain as much control over the incident as possible so that things will not continue to get out of hand. Ask for other members that have their composure and can help take charge to do so and have them report back to you what their findings are for their areas. Sixth, Make any and all decisions that will insure that no further lives will have traumatic scarring from the incident until authorities can get the situation under control.
The characteristics and skills that should be considered when choosing a spokesperson for a crisis would include someone who exudes confidence, that truly understands the situation, and has the vital information that will set parents’ minds at ease that something is being done. This person must be able to handle speaking under pressure and have a demeanor that will allow them to be professional and compassionate to the crisis and its participants.
The most important ability would have to be communication skills. This is the most important because the way that a person says or relays a message is the most important thing in times of crisis. A person with great communication skills can calm the injured and the dazed. Everyone can be spoken to in a frame of voice that will surely set their minds at ease for the split second that it takes for them to act for protection.
Being that a blog is simply another component of technology communications, it is very important that a Principal has one. A lot of parents and teachers use blogs to communicate, teachers and students use blogs and educational professionals use blogs as well as so many others. Again, blogs are another way to communicate, an online journal accessible to users. A Principal may use a blog as a communications tool between the Principal and parents, the Principal and staff, the Principal and the PTSA, Principal’s educational blog, etc. Again, this is another form of email, which in today’s society is one of many ways to communicate technologically.
ReplyDeleteI would tell the teacher three things:
ReplyDelete1. Shake the parents hand and welcome them with a smile
2. Start with something positive about their child
3. Always be calm, respectful and professional regardless of how the parent is coming at you
Interestingly enough I was just a part of a crisis situation that I believe was handled inappropriately. A recent bomb threat was made against all Genesee County, Michigan schools. The communication was sent out to schools via e-mail by the ISD and by the time I stumbled across the message the bombs were scheduled to be detonated in 20 minutes. The steps I feel are important during a crisis situation are:
ReplyDelete1) Contact local authorities
2) Contact supervisor/board for procedures and policies of district
3) Consult emergency plan or BOWMAC for determination of procedures in place, roles, etc.
4) Implement procedures in manual (evacuation, lockdown, etc.)
5) Communicate to parents/community
It is critical that the representative communicating with the community is well versed on the situation in order to make sure no panic is being started. They should also try to remain calm and keep information to facts.
What are five or six steps that a school leader might take during this vital time-frame? Communication is a critical part of the aforesaid crisis response. What characteristics and skills should be considered when choosing a spokesperson for a crisis? What is the most important ability needed?
ReplyDeleteIn an educational environment a principal should make sure that there is a crisis plan for the school. Secondly he/she should make sure that administration, school security, and staff is aware of it and has seen the document of it. And finally the principal should be sure that the school has an appointed crisis spokesperson in the event of a crisis that is professional and very aware of the crisis program and the media. The steps needed in event of a crisis is the principal should know what type of crisis it is, then notify the necessary persons, make sure the students and staff is out of harm’s way if necessary, have the crisis personnel ready to deal with the media and finally notify parents if necessary . Overall, be very accurate with the crisis plan