|
|
|
An evacuation drill has long been a component of the Yellow Medicine East School District’s crisis plan, but it wasn’t until this past Wednesday that school administrators decided to give it a run through.
Like all Minnesota schools, YME is required to develop a crisis plan, outlining the schools’ method of response to almost any type of emergency situation imaginable.
The YME plan is a comprehensive document, based off a state template, that has been developed and tweaked over the past six or seven years, according YME High School Principal Karen Norell.
Each year the school is required to hold five fire, five lock-down and one emergency weather drill––but with their execution of an evacuation drill, YME administration went above and beyond state protocol, conducting the exercise purely to meet their own standards of readiness.
“We wanted to give students and staff a sense of what it feels like and also find out if there’s anything we need to improve upon,” said Norell. “If we were to ever have an emergency at least then there is that comfort that we’ve done it before.”
An emergency evacuation would take place if ever a situation materialized in which the students needed to be moved from the school grounds to an auxiliary location. This might entail a fire during severe winter conditions, a bomb threat, or some other occurrence.
The evacuation plan for the high school involved the relocation of students and staff to Granite Falls Lutheran while elementary students were led to the Kilowatt Community Center. The Granite Falls Police and Fire Departments were also present to hold back traffic and assist in the process, just as they would be in real-life event.
All in all, both Norell and YME Superintendent Al Stoeckman said the exercise went great. All students reached their respective destinations and were accounted for, plus administration was made aware of unexpected circumstances to keep in mind. For one, Stoeckman said that the two-way radios – which were fine when used between the school and KCC – did not work between the church and KCC and cell phones would have to be used. Secondly, Norell noted that there was a logjam as high school students entered the church; next time the teachers would bring students to various entry points.
In a lot of ways the exercise was uneventful, and if it can stay that way in the face of a real emergency, then the drill will have proven its worth.
“We just want to error on the side of caution,” said Stoeckman. “I’m sure people never thought we’d have a tornado here.”
An evacuation drill has long been a component of the Yellow Medicine East School District’s crisis plan, but it wasn’t until this past Wednesday that school administrators decided to give it a run through.
Like all Minnesota schools, YME is required to develop a crisis plan, outlining the schools’ method of response to almost any type of emergency situation imaginable.
The YME plan is a comprehensive document, based off a state template, that has been developed and tweaked over the past six or seven years, according YME High School Principal Karen Norell.
Each year the school is required to hold five fire, five lock-down and one emergency weather drill––but with their execution of an evacuation drill, YME administration went above and beyond state protocol, conducting the exercise purely to meet their own standards of readiness.
“We wanted to give students and staff a sense of what it feels like and also find out if there’s anything we need to improve upon,” said Norell. “If we were to ever have an emergency at least then there is that comfort that we’ve done it before.”
An emergency evacuation would take place if ever a situation materialized in which the students needed to be moved from the school grounds to an auxiliary location. This might entail a fire during severe winter conditions, a bomb threat, or some other occurrence.
The evacuation plan for the high school involved the relocation of students and staff to Granite Falls Lutheran while elementary students were led to the Kilowatt Community Center. The Granite Falls Police and Fire Departments were also present to hold back traffic and assist in the process, just as they would be in real-life event.
All in all, both Norell and YME Superintendent Al Stoeckman said the exercise went great. All students reached their respective destinations and were accounted for, plus administration was made aware of unexpected circumstances to keep in mind. For one, Stoeckman said that the two-way radios – which were fine when used between the school and KCC – did not work between the church and KCC and cell phones would have to be used. Secondly, Norell noted that there was a logjam as high school students entered the church; next time the teachers would bring students to various entry points.
In a lot of ways the exercise was uneventful, and if it can stay that way in the face of a real emergency, then the drill will have proven its worth.
“We just want to error on the side of caution,” said Stoeckman. “I’m sure people never thought we’d have a tornado here.”
