Engine 5; Medics 5, 4, 29, 26; EMS 1; and Battalion 4: Respond for shots fired at the elementary school, reported multiple victims.
As the first-due company officer, your mind races as you make your way to the engine. There will be chaos for certain, and you will be called upon to make unimaginably difficult decisions over the course of the next 15 minutes, including who may live and who may have to be allowed to die so that others may live. The trip to the school seems to take forever and yet, in a moment, you’re pulling onto the street. The school, however, doesn’t appear the same as it has in the past. You suddenly recall reading a memo at some point over the summer about a construction project that was projected to alter the school’s main entrance, requiring the use of an alternate entrance. Now the challenge genuinely reveals itself: How do we get in?
Knowing Your First-Due
Every year, kids leave school looking forward to the freedom of summer while administrators and facility managers plan for quick and intense improvements to school infrastructure that may involve significant changes to schools’ physical characteristics. Often, temporary structures are brought onto the grounds and although not necessarily intended, they sometimes become permanent components of the campus. Frequently, these outbuildings, or portable classrooms, are not sprinklered and have limited fire protection and even more limited security characteristics.
In addition, original buildings may be torn down completely so new facilities can be built on the same footprint; alternatively, exterior load-bearing walls may remain while the interior building components are replaced with lightweight construction materials. This is particularly dangerous because it results in a condition where the exterior of the structure conceals the fire behavior characteristics inside, leading to a potentially catastrophic collapse that wasn’t expected or anticipated under fire conditions.
Separately, the challenge of access to such buildings continues to plague responders. Under “normal” conditions, teachers and administrators anticipate the arrival of emergency responders and are at the front door waiting to provide access. Repeated trips to educational facilities that result in instant access have the unintended consequence of lulling company officers into complacency for the one time when they don’t have that same level of access–potentially costing lives.
Place yourself in the front seat of that engine company and then ask yourself, “Have I done everything I can to prepare myself and my crew for a call we hope never comes?” Every day is a training day, which should not only include drills on the basics but also preplanning and knowing your first-due area better than anyone else. For example, how often are you updating preplans of critical infrastructure, such as educational complexes? Do you even have a preplan? Regardless of the area you serve (urban, suburban, rural), you’re presented with the opportunity to demonstrably contribute to the safety of the children in your community.
It’s in the Numbers
Here’s one easy solution that you can implement in cooperation and coordination with your local school system (courtesy of Hanover County, Va.): Number every exterior door with a prominent metal plaque (for example, red background, white 6—8″ reflective number). The numbering convention can start on side Alpha at the main entrance and move in a clockwise fashion around the facility.
Upon receiving a 9-1-1 call for assistance, dispatchers can either ask for or be provided with the number of the door that emergency responders should use to access the patient or patients. In addition, during an incident requiring coordinated actions with police, access and egress points can be established quickly by referencing the door. Indicating that you’re at door #6 in a sequential numbering system that moves clockwise around a school beginning at the front door is infinitely more helpful than reporting that you’re located at the northwest door on the Bravo/Charlie courtyard, closer to side Bravo. Remember: The police have yet to embrace the concept of alpha—delta nomenclature, so such language won’t serve you or your law enforcement brethren in an emergency.
Implementing this solution will require buy-in from school officials. As a company officer, you are potentially in the best position to speak directly to the principal (read: battalion chief) of the school, who can in turn communicate with their teachers (read: company officers). Such communication and partnerships have the very real potential to save lives. The ideal circumstances would include school and law enforcement officials in a cooperative alliance, but that’s not required and should not stop you from considering this strategy as part of your preplan that you share with the companies normally due on a first-alarm assignment. Thanks to Hanover Fire-EMS for sharing this innovative strategy.
Step Up
Regardless of your ability to implement this particular strategy, we all share in the responsibility of ensuring our readiness for an incident of jurisdictional, regional or national significance in our first-due area. When that day comes–and it will come–let it be said that we did everything in our power to be as prepared as possible.
School bells across this country are about to start ringing again … are you ready?
