GUIDELINES FOR EMERGENCY DRILL AND EVACUATION

MANUAL (CHEMICAL ACCIDENT/ GAS LEAK AND FIRE A MULTI

HAZARD SCEANARIO)
External agency support is required for Chemical de-contamination in drill

1) INTRODUCTION :

Managements of Schools and other educational Institutions should develop emergency plans to
ensure the life safety of school children/students during emergency and consult the local authorities for
any special concerns. The emergency plans should reflect procedures for the reporting of emergencies
as well as the occupant and staff response to such emergencies. The local fire station and Health dept.
need to be made aware of the school’s plan regarding evacuation of any students or staff that might be
incapable of self-evacuation. Areas of refuge/patient should be easily identifiable from the exterior so
that fire and health department personnel can readily access these areas. Emergency plans should be
reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any new information or changes in conditions.

Frequent drills are critical in achieving the proper response by occupants during an emergency. Fire
exit drills should include the assignment of staff or mature students to hold doors open in the line of
march and to close doors where necessary to prevent the spread of fire or smoke; to search toilets or
other ancillary rooms; to properly account for all occupants; and to achieve a prompt, quiet, and orderly
evacuation of the building or relocation to designated areas of refuge. Occupants should not be allowed
to retrieve clothing or take school bags after the alarm sounds due to confusion that would result in
forming lines, student accountability, and the danger of tripping over dragging apparel.

In case of food poisoning the drill helps us to check the readiness of the healthcare system and
efficiency of local schools to deal with a possible food poisoning outbreak. The aim of the exercise is to
assess the preparedness of all concerned in the schools for dealing with a possible food poisoning
outbreak and identify the weaknesses. This will help in formulating future plans and improving
performance.

2) NEED AND PURPOSR FOR A MOCK DISASTER DRILL MANUAL

The manual has been prepared to facilitate the effective design and implementation of drills and
exercises specifically intended for testing emergency preparedness and response. The goal of mock drills
is to test and enhance the overall capability of a government, community or organization, through
strengthening of plans, policies and procedures. Preparation and practice of specific responsibilities and
standard operating procedures for response and recovery from disasters will enhance the ability to
protect lives, property and the environment.

3) REQUIRED PLAYERS IN A DRILL/EXERCISE

The Incident Command System (ICS) is an emergency management framework, adaptable to any
scale of natural or man-made emergencies. ICS is the combination of facilities, equipment, personnel,
procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure, with
responsibility for the management of resources to effectively accomplish stated objectives pertinent to
an incident.

Functions of IC system:

 Maintain integrated communication flow during emergency

 Manage the incident scene
 Facilitate procedure and protocols to be followed by all teams
 Adopt a comprehensive resource management approach
 Monitor functional areas during the post- disaster phase

Incident commander in School is Principal.

i. Incident Commander – The incident commander’s role is to supervise the simulation or overall
conduct of the exercise, to make sure that the exercise proceeds as planned and that the
objectives are achieved. The incident commander monitors the sequence of events, supervises
the inputs of messages received and conducts a de-briefing and critique (verbal & written) with
all personnel involved.

Simulators in the school are response team heads, members and supported staff assigned during
drills.

ii. Simulators – Simulators “act as” and on behalf, of the agencies and services that would normally
interact with the participants. The method of interaction is normally pre-scripted but responses
could be spontaneous.

Participants in the school are all students, staffs and immediate stakeholders if any.

iii. Participants – The participants should be from school as mentioned above.

Evaluators in the school are independent observer selected by school.

iv. Evaluators – The role is to observe the actions and decisions of the players, in order to later
report what went well and what did not. The main focus is on the performance of functions and
institution and facilities being tested, keeping in mind the objectives of the exercise.

Prior to conducting the drill, the drill team members should be trained in the duties, responsibilities
and activities related to their respective positions in the conduct of the drill. Training may also be
accomplished during the pre-drill briefing where each team member’s duties should be individually
addressed. In addition to training of these teams, additional people should be trained to account for
any mishap.
Guidelines on Multi Hazard Mock drill (Snake bite and Epidemic)

4) SCENARIO NARRATIVE

The school administration has undertaken school safety initiatives in school. A school disaster
management committee and disaster response teams were constituted. A school disaster management
plan was prepared. A mock drill has been undertaken as the next step in the school safety initiative.

The …………….school is housed in a ……… storey building with 100 students approximately. The school
has a 1 kitchen and 1 dining room, suddenly a day 20 student’s complaint about stomach ache in half an
hour after the lunch break. Within this time frame, news spread that 2 school personal are affected by
snake bite. A snake has been found in the school corridor. There are 6 classrooms available near short
snake bite incidence, around 50 students are studying in the classrooms, In the event it is expected that
10 student facing severe stomach ache, 2 people severely injured with snake bite , 50 students/teachers
stranded and 4 people gets mental trauma. The school is quite well connected through a road network
and has electricity, telephone and postal services available.

Sequence of Events

S. No. Event Action By

1 20 students have been infected by food poisoning (10:30 Reported by Mess in charge to
AM) Incident commander
2 10 student, 1 teacher stranded, 4 people light injured and Reported by teacher in charge to
14 people facing smog issues (11:00 AM) Incident commander

3 Incident commander informs call all DM response Warning Generation and

committee and advise him to conduct a briefing meeting Dissemination team
immediately (Till 11:15 AM)
4 Meeting is convened to discuss the prevailing situation. Task forces (direction given by
All Task forces are activated (Till 11:25 AM) Incident commander- IC)
5 Task forces present their actions plans on how to tackle By all task forces, Early Warning,
the forthcoming disaster to the committee (Till 11:35 AM) Fire/SAR team, First Aid/Patient
management , Relief and Shelter &
Evacuation and site security Team
6 Early warning team disseminates information about Early Warning Team
impending disaster and alerts. Establishes contact with
class room teachers for latest information on situation.
Three rounds of early warning are carried out to inform
teachers of situation. Alarm Blows for safety.
Announcement done not to be panic.

All instructions and activity shall cease machinery should

be shut down, gas and oil burning apparatus and
appliances should be shut off, and the students should
remain still and quiet to await further orders
(till 11:55 AM)
7 At the same time, 1 team member of each team are SAR Team (1 Member) and
 instructed to keep vigil on weak points on the fire disaster Evacuation and Site Security team
place and kitchen/dining area of school (Till 12:00 PM) (1 Member)
8 Establishment to the safe places in schools with their Evacuation and Site Security team
essential belongings like bag, bottles etc. (Till 12:15 PM
parallel basis), management of students, attendance,
missing records etc.
9 Sanitation and necessary arrangements for water Relief and Shelter management
(preferable WARM Water) to make body hydrated for Team
food poisoning affected students. (Till 11:45 AM)
10 First Aid team makes arrangements for establishment of First Aid Team/Search and Rescue
medical relief setup, arrangement for (Provide First Aid to Team
Fire induced patients, injury record, patient treatment
record etc. (Till 12:30 PM)
11 First aid team position themselves at shelter to provide
medical care if needed. Rescue team evacuate sick/ill
people and shift them to shelter (Till 12:30 PM)
12 Message is received that two children are stranded in fire Search and Rescue Team
and 2 children having severe stomach ache. Search and
rescue team rush to the site with the necessary equipment
and rescue the children stranded in fire that are given first
aid and shifted to the relief camp.

An ambulance is called for food poisoning patient them

sent to hospital via ambulance. (Till 12:00 PM)
13 No new patient found for food poisoning now. Fire and SAR team

Demonstration of Fire fighting equipments (use of fire

extinguishers and fire source has been extinguished) (Till
11:55 AM)
14 De-warning message sent by Early Warning Team that Early Warning Team/ Evacuation
conditions are improving will start sending children’s to and Site Security team
class rooms safely through heaven routes. (12:45 PM)
15 Task forces convene for a de-briefing meeting (01:00 PM) All task forces with Incident
Commander
16 Observation share by observer Coordinate by IC
17 Update the school disaster management plan on the basis SDMC Team
of the evaluation report
 5) DRILL PROCEDURE

PRE-DRILL ACTIONS -:

a) TABLE TOP EXERCISE :-

 Table top exercise should be conducted before conducting actual mock drill to facilitate
group analysis of an emergency situation in an informal, stress free environment.
 The Table top exercise is designed for examination of operational plans, problem
identification, and in depth problem solving.
 The tabletop exercise is essentially a group brainstorming session centered on a scenario
narrative and problem statements or message that are presented to members of the group.
Above table may be shared to all teachers and concerned members for necessary
preparations.
b) FIRE EXTINGUISHERS/FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT/ STRETCHERS/ROPES/SAFETY JACKETS ETC>
 These must be checked, properly and maintained in serviceable condition.
 Staff will be Assigned duties including pool of male staff that will be trained to use the fire-
fighting equipment/fire extinguishers.
c) SOUNDING OF THE ALARM (Checked properly)
 All Key staff members must know how to operate the alarm and to sound it immediately
when it is discovered as per the instructions.
 The alarm must be audible throughout the school
 Should the electric warning system/ the fire alarm fail, a school bell and/or any other
improvised gong will be used.
d) EVACUATION ROUTES
 Every staff member must be acquainted with the evacuation routes of the class or classes
he/she teaches or from the room he/she is occupying. (It is assumed that SAR and
Evacuation team already briefed. They will support in activity)
 Office staff, laboratory staff and others must also be familiar with the evacuation routes.
 Plans showing evacuating routes will be explained to pupils and will be prominently
displayed at several strategic points in the school.
 School attendance registers, when in the classrooms must be taken out by the teacher in
class, or if they are in the office, by the office attendant.
 Classes will move in the following manner;
 Pupils in each class are to line up in twos.
 All classes will evacuate simultaneously with priority for access to staircase given
to higher floors.
 All occupants must proceed to predetermined assembly area on open grounds
away from the buildings e.g. car park, school field, etc.
e) FIGHTING THE FIRE
 Preferably Male staff will be mobilized and detailed to proceed to fight the fire from a safe
distance with the available fire-fighting equipment and attempt to extinguish or control the
fire without personal risk.
f) ALL CLEAR SIGNAL
 After the drill IC will give the all clear signal for re-entry to the building.
C. Guidelines on Multi Hazard Mock drill (Chemical Accident/ GAS Leak and Fire) - External
agency support is required for Chemical de-contamination in drill.