If you oversee safety protocols for a school or any other educational facility, you understand the importance of staff and students knowing how to respond during an emergency. It’s also important when preparing for these scenarios, to meet the specific needs of disabled students.
As can be true regarding day-to-day learning, disabled students often need different forms of attention and preparation when it comes to lockdowns. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to best prepare disabled students for safe and effective emergency lockdowns.
Seven Steps to Emergency Lockdown Prep for Disabled Students
Given the critical importance of emergency preparedness, many educational experts study how schools can respond to emergency events. Just this year, Campus Safety came out with a list of the seven best ways to support students with disabilities during lockdown events. We’ve provided a quick summary of those seven tips below:
- Know which disabled students require additional help: The first step toward preparing your disabled students for emergency events is to identify which students need this specialized help. At this stage, it’s crucial to remember that disabilities come in many forms. Some disabilities are physical, while others are related to the student’s cognitive and emotional abilities. Develop a thorough list of individuals with disabilities in your student body before you move on to the next step in the process.
- Create emergency plans that are unique to certain student groups: After listing all students with disabilities, it’s time to begin developing individualized plans that suit each student’s needs during an emergency. While it may be tempting to develop plans for large groups of students, it’s more beneficial to be detailed at this stage and take your time to learn the unique needs of every student on your list. Consider how LockOut Co.’s SmartBoot System® can be adapted to these individual plans, ensuring quick and efficient lockdown procedures for all students.
- Express the importance of emergency preparedness to parents: Having the support of a disabled student’s parents will only benefit your efforts to prepare for emergencies. Let parents know that practicing drills and individualized emergency plans is the best way to stay prepared. Introduce parents to The LockOut Co.’s SmartBoot System® and explain how it enhances overall school safety for students and faculty of varying abilities.
- Know what needs to happen after an evacuation: An evacuation may result in disabled students being removed from certain environments and resources they rely on. For example, some students depend on feeding tubes or need EpiPens. Your emergency plan should accommodate these needs in advance so that all students have what they need to stay safe and healthy after an evacuation.
- Be ready to respond to students who try to run away: Emergency events can be incredibly overwhelming to some students. Some of these students may respond by fleeing the scene entirely. Be prepared for students who run by having your staff practice de-escalation and redirection techniques to ensure students remain in a safe place.
- Communicate your plan clearly: Communication is of the utmost importance, especially during emergency events. Be ready to share your plans clearly with all who are involved. Additionally, you’ll want to develop and communicate a reunification plan that allows parents and guardians to pick up their children after an evacuation.
- Practice and improve: Regular practice is the only way to ensure that your disabled students are prepared for an emergency. Schedule drills and learn from each one to improve your plans. Incorporate the use of LockOut Co. products like The Boot® door barricade in these drills to familiarize students and staff with their operation and the facility’s lockdown protocols.
Preparing for emergency events is not only difficult but can be emotionally stressful as well for disabled students and staff members alike. Still, these seven steps should set you on the right path toward helping disabled students prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Why Emergency Prep for Disabled Students is So Vital
The percentage of disabled students is much higher than you would likely expect. In fact, some statistics reveal that 7.5 million students throughout the United States are disabled in some way. That equates to about 15% of all students.
Since disabilities are so prevalent, every school in the country likely has at least one disabled student. Given how widespread these students are, every school should be prepared not only with standard lockdown and evacuation drills but also with plans specific to their disabled student body. Creating these individualized emergency plans is the only way to ensure you can help your entire school remain safe in the face of an emergency.
Lockdown Drill Essentials
While there are specific needs you must address when preparing disabled students for emergency events, there are also fundamental steps that must take place during all lockdown events. Knowing these steps and how to perform them efficiently is what will allow your staff and students to stay out of harm’s way. Below are some of the basic measures you must include during a lockdown:
- Lock classroom doors (The Boot® door barricade from LockOut Co. can provide an extra layer of security)
- Turn off the lights
- Remain in a location that is out of sight from windows and doors
- Stay as silent as possible
Of course, emergency events are complex and require more steps than what we just outlined. The LockOut Co. can help your school put together a detailed emergency operations plan, incorporating safety protocols that are unique to your facility.
LockOut Co. Makes Lockdowns Accessible For All
The SmartBoot System® seamlessly integrates into your facility’s emergency plans, helping administrators, faculty members, and students feel confident in their school’s safety protocols. This highly advanced system caters to a wide audience, making lockdown drills and emergency events accessible for students and staff of all abilities.
Visual and Audible Alerts
We designed The SmartBoot System® so anyone can quickly identify and respond to emergency alerts from anywhere in the building. Our SmartBoot System® includes The Boot® door barricade and various pieces of Smart technology, providing physical security along with visual and audible alerts for lockdown, secure mode, assistance needed mode, and all-clear notifications.
Training Programs
Our student training programs incorporate comic books to keep young students engaged while learning about important safety topics. We offer two unique comic books to teach neurodivergent and neurotypical students about lockdown safety in a way they will understand. Featuring our classroom safety heroes, Bobby The Boot and Shelly The Shield, these comic books are valuable tools that reinforce serious training concepts without frightening students.
Special Attachments
To make The Boot® accessible to everyone, we offer a Boot handle extension. This special attachment elongates The Boot® handle so it extends above the SmartBox. The attachment eliminates the need to bend or stoop, allowing individuals using a wheelchair to easily remove and deploy The Boot® from a seated position.
Be More Prepared than Ever with LockOut Co.
Preparing for evacuations and lockdowns can be challenging and stressful. It can help immensely to have a team of safety experts to guide you through the process.
At LockOut, we are the experts you need. We have developed a complete line of industry-leading security products that are perfect for schools and other facilities. These products work cohesively to create a complete state-of-the-art security system. Our SmartBoot System®, which includes The Boot® door barricade, SmartBoxes, SmartLights, Smart Tablets, and Pull Stations, can be seamlessly integrated into your emergency plans for disabled students.
If you are interested in learning more about how Lockout Co. can help your school become safer than ever before, contact us today.
