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Comment by Marla Petal on May 24, 2009 at 13:11

It worries me in disaster drills to see professional responders and vehicles at schools. Since there won't be enough of these folks to go around, I'd rather see what school personnel themselves are prepared to do to do light search and rescue, provide first aid, and put out small fires. We have learned from Japan, 4 very simple building evacuation rules that all children can be taught "Don't talk. Don't push. Don't run. Don't go back". As far as training school personnel, so far I haven't seen anything to better than to train volunteers in modified a "Incident Command System" wherein everyone learns to fulfill any of the key functions that may be needed Incident Command (coordination, organization, communications) Operations (light search and rescue, first aid, fire suppression - all emphasizing safety, safety and security - including assembly area and family reunion protocols), and Logistics (water, shelter, food, sanitation, and psychosocial support).