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Comment by Justin Sharpe on February 24, 2010 at 11:55

Some excellent ideas Marla! Thank you. I was also concerned about the 'fear factor' here - even to the point that the music in the video is clearly designed to provoke a fearful emotional responses and this might concern teachers. What would be useful would be a lesson or two leading up to the drill that explored hazards in local area or even around school that would allow students to know and understand the world around them better without the need for anxiety. Then they could make connections between the need for a drill and their safety without generating anxiety. This is especially important for students with communication and learning difficulties such as a child with autism or Aspergers Syndrome where a change in their routine might be very distressing.

Comment by Marla Petal on February 24, 2010 at 11:45

I have several questions I wish I could pose to a school group:
1. Might actually need to be a little speedier in getting indoors (walking faster)?
2. Staff instructed to check things when there's an intruder on the premises? Is that safe - shouldn't there at least be abuddy system.
3. I suspect that the lack of info to parents and press would, in real life would provoke an avalanche.
Better not to provide reassurance unless you really are sure, or unless you can say: The incident is over. It was minor. No one was hurt. The children have returned to their regular lessons. For more information you can contact. Perhaps better to take the parent's phone number and names of children and call back later.
4. Would have liked to see student's prior preparation and I didn't much like teacher scaring kids with 'chemical gas cloud'. If there are haz mats in the neighborhood, I'd like to see the kids taken to meet with the management at the sites and be given a tour and express their concerns etc.