Best Practice

Best Practice

Disaster Drills

Joe Mullis, CRS

Lanier County DFCS

313 Roquemore Circle, Lakeland, GA 31635

Phone: 229-482-3686

Fax: 229-482-2334

I am convinced that we can never be too prepared for any type of disaster. In addition to fire and tornado disasters, we all need to be prepared for explosive and chemical/biological disasters.

For explosives, a simple scenario is to take a cardboard box, write in red letters “Bomb” and X’s on it. Put some screws in the corners and wrap wire around the box and screws. Put the box somewhere (bathroom, an employees desk chair, on the steps outside the back door), and see what actions are taken when the device is discovered.

For chemical/biological, put some salt, sugar, and pepper in an envelope. Write a specific employees name on the envelope and for the return address write a fictitious name (use your imagination). Use a color crayon to do the writing. Place the letter outside the back door, or have a willing client assist and take the letter to the receptionist and say they found it outside.

With the box or letter, employees should ALWAYS be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, anything peculiar, stay away from it, and notify the chain of command. Be familiar with the correct actions to take when you review the procedures and make sure your Safety Flip Chart or Plan are update and in place and that staff know where the Plan is.

ABOVE ALL: IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO NOTIFY YOUR LAW ENFORCEMENT BEFORE TO PREVENT UNNECESSARY RESPONSES AND PANIC - AND AFTER THE DRILL TO ADVISE THEM TO RESPOND TO ANY FUTURE INCIDENTS.

Emergency Drill Checklist

(Keep in mind this is just a sample tool and situations will dictate appropriate actions. For example: If a person knows that your office ALWAYS evacuates to a certain area, they may place the bomb at that location and then call in a bomb threat for inside the building. Or, the person could be a sniper waiting for everyone to assemble outside. In other words, as situations dictate, you may not ALWAYS evacuate during a bomb threat.)

Drill Type	Frequency	Date(s) Conducted – Minimum 1 Drill per Qt
Fire	Two per year – minimum
Bomb, Tornado, Severe Weather, Sniper, Chemical, or Biological	One per year – minimum
Bomb, Tornado, Severe Weather, Sniper, Chemical, or Biological	One per year - minimum

** Completed drills need to be reported to Shauneen Moss.

Bomb Drill

Was the code announced twice along with the exit route?	Yes	No
Were the doors left open as people exited their offices?	Yes	No
Did the Supervisors / County Director check assigned areas?	Yes	No
Were all employees and visitors accounted for?	Yes	No
Were all required items carried outside? Eligibility caseload listing? First Aid kit? Foster Child / Foster Parent listing?	Yes	No
Was the bomb located? Before or after the drill?	Yes	No

Fire Drill

Was the code announced twice along with the exit route?	Yes	No
Were doors closed as people exited their offices?	Yes	No
Were lights turned off in offices?	Yes	No
Was everyone out of the building in fewer than 3 minutes	Yes	No
Did supervisors check assigned areas?	Yes	No
Were all employees and visitors accounted for?	Yes	No
Were all required items carried outside? Eligibility caseload listing? First Aid kit? Foster Child / Foster Parent listing?	Yes	No

Severe Weather

Were doors closed?	Yes	No
Were all assembled in designated location?	Yes	No
Was everyone assembled in under 2 minutes	Yes	No
Were the weather radio and flashlights available?	Yes	No
Were all employees and visitors accounted for?	Yes	No