Transcript From Tabletop exercises to full scale exercises

Conducting Effective
Tabletop Exercises and
considerations for Full
Scale Exercises
Scott A. Staggs
South Knox School Safety Specialist
Director of Transportation
Elementary Assistant Principal
Safe School Committee
Activities
2007 Active Shooter Tabletop with SWAT team demonstration at SKMHS
 2008 Tornado Scenario after tornado in Alabama wiped out a school.
 2008 Shooter tabletop exercise with SWAT team demonstration at SKE –
similar to 2007
 2009 Earthquake scenario after minor Earthquake rattles southwestern
Indiana
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2010 Active shooter full scale incident involving faculty, staff,
SWAT team, and 81 students.
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2011 Faculty Meeting Tabletop Exercises – SKE and SKMHS
2012 DOE Monitoring Review Process - SKE
2012 Quake Cottage from USGS visited SK
2013 Addition of SKE entrance doors and Safe Room Locks
2013 Active Shooter Tabletop Exercise and Evacuation to Parent
Reunification Site – SKE
2014 Addition of second SRO, Keyless Entry Installation
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2014 Tabletop Scenario - SKE Oct. 28, 2014
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Development of the relationship between the
Knox County Sheriff’s Department and SKSC
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2006 – Inception of SRO program at SKSC was the start
of the relationship with the sheriff’s department. SRO
program consisted of 1 off duty sheriff’s deputy at SK
schools for four hours per day. This sheriff’s deputy is
considered to be an independent contractor, and the
agreement is approved by the school board and the
county commissioners. Approval of contract every three
years.
We did this before the IDHS Grant.
Currently 1 full time (Result of IDHS Grant), and 1 four
hour officer on duty.
SWAT Team regularly trains in our school buildings and
buses.
Oct. 28, 2014 SKE Tabletop
Two scenarios – Earthquake/ Active
Shooter
 Members of Safe School Committee ran
the scenarios and lead the discussions.
 Large group came back together to
generate ideas and discuss other issues/
concerns.
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Safe School
Committee
Member
Heather
Whaley, 3rd
grade teacher,
leads the
discussion of
the scenario for
the SKE Faculty
and Staff.
Considerations for Tabletop
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Teacher Groupings for Discussion – grade level/
area?
Get teachers in the mindset that the event has
occurred. How do they best keep students safe
after the event? 6 new teachers this year.
Involve Law Enforcement – who is practicing?
Note takers – be sure to record all ideas and
debrief afterwards.
Have Safe School Committee meet after the
scenario to talk about what went well and what
can be improved.
Earthquake Scenario – 4 slides
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An earthquake occurs at 12:15PM as 200 3rd and 4th
grade students are in the gymnasium for recess. 200 5th
and 6th graders are in the cafeteria eating lunch, and
students in grades K-2 are in their classrooms. The
earthquake is a major earthquake at 7.8 on the Richter
scale rattles all of southern Indiana and Illinois. The
earthquake that hit our area on April 18, 2008 was a 5.2
magnitude quake. Tremors are felt in Chicago, Detroit,
Columbus, OH, and Nashville, TN. The epicenter is
located 10 miles west of Mt. Carmel, Illinois. Much of
southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western
Kentucky are seriously impacted by the earthquake.
Earthquake Continued
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As the quake began, students in classrooms at
SKE attempted to get under large tables, desks,
etc. The quake lasted 45 seconds and did some
serious shaking of all structures in the area.
Students in the gym are in bad shape as most of
the roof collapsed making rescue and recovery
very difficult in this area. The situation is similar
in the cafeteria, but students were able to get
under the cafeteria tables before the ceiling
started to fall. In most classrooms, the roof did
not collapse, but access to classrooms will be
difficult due to debris in the hallways.
Earthquake Continued
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Approximately 75 students are either very
seriously injured or deceased in the SKE
building. Another 200 individuals are
injured with scrapes, bruises, and broken
bones. The rest of the students are very
shaken and upset, but are not seriously
injured. Ten faculty or staff members are
either seriously injured or deceased with
another 7 in serious condition.
Earthquake Continued
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The power is out in all areas of the building and phone
lines are damaged making land line communication
impossible. There is a gas leak at the back of the
building emitting from the mechanical room and the
smell is evident in the cafeteria as well as the
kindergarten hallway shortly after the shaking subsides.
The situation is similar throughout the county with
serious damage to other schools and the hospital.
Medical assistance will be slow with resources widely
dispersed. How do we respond to this major situation
affecting many of our students?
Active Shooter - tabletop
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At approximately 3:08PM, an angry parent
comes in the front doors and pulls out a hand
gun. He shoots two parents standing and
waiting on students to come down the hallway.
All of the kindergarten students are loading
buses, and first and second grade students who
are “car people” are walking down the hallway
toward the entrance when the first shooting
occur. The bus students have headed out the
doors to the buses. A call to 911 is made at
3:09 as well as radio communication with Officer
McBee.
Active Shooter - tabletop
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He gains access to a first grade classroom and enters it
looking for additional targets. The safe room is locked
so he leaves the classroom and heads toward the bus
ramp where he can see students scrambling to get on
buses and starts shooting at students running to buses.
He shoots four students on the bus ramp before he is
shot by Officer McBee.
Officer McBee responded to the front of the building
after the shooting begins and tracked the individual to
the bus ramp where they exchange gunfire. Officer
McBee shoots the individual on the bus ramp in plain
view of students on buses and bus drivers.
Details about scenario to include
School specific information – make it
believable/ it can happen anywhere.
 Number of casualties/injuries/ etc.
 Discussion topics – where to safely move
students, where to reunify with parents.
 What the next steps are:
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– Parent meeting, reopening of school, funerals
for students/ faculty, other recovery topics,
how to recover…
Follow Up Discussion
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Ideas and possibilities:
Shooter
Locks in hallway restroom doors – to allow you to lock out the shooter
Bug/ Wasp Spray for each Safe Room
Magnets for classroom doors
Walkie Talkies for classroom communication during time of need
Teachers always carry cell phones with them
Every Classroom door should be locked
Earthquake
Keep cell phones on you at all times
Practice evacuating the building and going to Safe Place
Walkie talkies for rooms and teachers
Earthquake buckets in more parts of the building (stage, café, office)
Building student list in each emergency bag – not just grade level
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Materials:
Shooter
Window covering for computer lab doors
Wasp or bug spray for each safe room
LED flashlights
Magnets for doors
Walkie Talkies
Earthquake
Tourniquets
More earthquake buckets
School sign-out sheet for emergency
situations.
Full Scale Exercise
Much more preparation.
 Involvement from outside agencies –
police/ fire/ EMS
 Involvement of students – parent consent
issues
 Certainly more difficult to manage than
Tabletop!
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Full Scale Active Shooter Exercise
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3:40 – Discuss with Faculty/ Staff – what is about to take place/
Debrief by Sheriff Morris
3:45 – Report to locations as if it was 11:55 – where teachers would
be. Students will be in lobby/ cafeteria.
3:50 – Shooting occurs in cafeteria – A code red is called as the
students scatter. Teachers will be in the teacher’s lounge with
others in the back halls. The shooter will continue throughout the
building eliminating anyone who is seen.
3:50-4:20 –Lock Down – Officers arrive. Students are locked down
until told to move to secure location – auditorium.
4:20-? Debriefing in auditorium
Questions – how long until an officer arrives? How long until the
SWAT team enters the building?
Video as well as pictures were taken during the scenario.
Notes about development
of scenario
Met with Sheriff Mike Morris and Det. Mike
Fischer about the plan. Female teacher
Machelle Pool designated as shooter.
Sheriff’s Department wanted to see how
the men would handle dealing with a
female shooter.
 Her husband is a state trooper and was
one of the officers to take her into
custody.
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Excerpts from Active
Shooter Tabletop Exercise
adapted to Full Scale
Exercise
This took place on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007
A few of the scenarios are at the end of the
handout. I am happy to e-mail scenarios and
Powerpoint presentations
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At 9:22AM on February 7, an older gentleman enters the
building through the main door. He runs in the door and
takes off in the direction of the auditorium. A student
standing in the office sees the individual and tells Mrs.
Prather what he observes. The temperature outside is
15 degrees. Moments later, gunshots are heard in the
office. A few seconds later, an announcement goes out
over the PA that we are under a Lock Down. This is a
passing period, so all students need to get to a safe
location because there is an intruder in the building.
While the announcement is going over the PA, additional
shots are heard coming from the lobby area.
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In the lobby, the shooter fired at a group of five
students coming out of the band hallway into the lobby.
Three students are critically injured by the shots. The
rest of the students turn and run. They go toward Dsection and end up running out of the doors toward the
track. There were 43 students who went out that way.
At 9:24, the shooter continued into the back hallway.
He noticed some students running up by guidance. He
shot several more shots in that direction and wounded a
female student. He continued and went into the girl’s
restroom and found three students in there. Seeing no
other students in the hallway, he decided to hold the
three girls hostage in the bathroom.
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At 9:24, the shooter continued into the
back hallway. He noticed some students
running up by guidance. He shot several
more shots in that direction and wounded
a female student. He continued and went
into the girl’s restroom and found three
students in there. Seeing no other
students in the hallway, he decided to
hold the three girls hostage in the
bathroom.
The Facts
Five students are either dead or will die
before arriving at the hospital.
 There are bodies in the lobby, down the
hallway from guidance on the ramps, and
in the girls restroom across from Mrs.
Kunkler-Laake’s room.
 The shooter is also on the floor outside
the girls’ restroom.
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At this point, the school is a crime scene and is
secured by the sheriff’s department. Decisions
that will need to be made:
Where to move the students for family
reunification. How to exit the building.
How do we account for safe students, injured
students, and deceased students?
Parent location for student pick up.
Meeting place for parents of injured and
deceased students.
School personnel to assist at each of these
locations.
The recovery phase is the last part of the
plan.
 When do we hold a parent meeting?
 When do we allow students to return to
the building?
 When does school reopen?
 What do we do about memorials for the
five deceased students?
 What do we need to do in the future to
keep our students safe?
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Lists of suggestions
generated after each
exercise
The safe school committee then takes
a look at the suggestions and makes
decisions on ideas to impliment.
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From the Shooter and Tornado scenarios at the MHS, we
have instituted the following items:
First aid kits in all classrooms (We have three in general
areas – Swank, Toothman gym, teachers resource room)
 More handheld radios for communication in the building
– Gyms, etc.
 Emergency battery powered lights in all inside rooms
and library
 Master list of all students in various classrooms and
faculty staff list with janitors, cooks, etc. updated
monthly
 Code Red Drill for faculty and staff each semester –
Thursday of this week
 Lanyard with key for substitutes and codes – SKE started
also
 Additional Keys for people in various parts of the building
 Other good ideas and discussion about how to handle
various situations.
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Problems with full scale scenario
Mrs. Pool tackled by male teacher – broke
some ribs. Workman’s comp claim….
 Teachers would not open the door for
deputies after incident.
 Didn’t inform Bus Drivers – radio traffic
caused concern.
 Green GO signs not known by Sheriff’s
Department.
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Watch video from
Active Shooter Scenario
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What to look for:
– How quickly the shooter is apprehended.
– The isolation of the building as the SWAT
team sweeps.
– The number of times the SWAT team sweeps
the building.
– Other interesting observations
Discussion?
What questions do you have?
 What details have I not discussed that you
would like to know?
 How can I help you in this process?
 Keep in mind, we have taken several
years to get to this point, and it was not
flawless!
 Be prepared to address issues/ concerns.
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Scott A. Staggs
South Knox School Corporation
6136 E State Rd 61
Vincennes, IN 47591
812-743-2591
[email protected]