Emergency Preparedness Efforts
In preparing our school and parish community for large-scale emergencies (natural or otherwise), St. Simon has taken the following steps to make our school and staff more disaster ready:
- Development and implementation of a school Earthquake/Disaster Preparedness Committee to assess and make recommendations on preparedness efforts (including logistical needs, comprehensive emergency drill planning, and updating substantive emergency/disaster preparedness info);
- Providing training and guidance to all staff on emergency preparedness, as well as parish-wide information sessions on emergency and safety-related matters, including chemical/similar hazards, physical plant layout (i.e., automatic gas shut off);
- Conducting monthly school-wide fire drills, as well as individual classroom drills on earthquake safety;
- Maintaining on-going relationships with the Los Altos Police and Fire Departments (annual Grade 4-5 in-service, most recent scheduled for 10/5/11) to address emergency operations planning, and to address physical plant maintenance and safety compliance matters;
- Providing each classroom and individual work area in the school with a Red Cross-compliant safety bag containing emergency supplies and emergency plan information (in addition to supplies maintained throughout the parish buildings, including medical kits and EPI-pen stations); and
- Preparing detailed maps of the school identifying evacuation routes and emergency stations/command posts in the event of a large-scale emergency.
Student Release Procedures
In the event of an emergency that requires an early release of students, the following procedures will generally be followed (keeping in mind that the nature of the emergency many necessitate logistical adjustments):
- Depending on the circumstances: Students can be picked up in the front parking lot (adjacent to Grant Road - please refer to map in Appendix 2 of the Student-Parent Handbook);
- Only parents, guardians and individuals listed on the emergency form may pick up a student -- it is critical that parents/guardians ensure that their child's emergency card is up-to date;
- Upon arrival, please go to the parental check-in stations tentatively located between the church and school's main office cross walk, where you will check in/may have your ID verified, after which a staff member will bring your child to you and you may exit the campus onto Grant Road; and
- Please realize patience (though difficult) is a must, depending on the magnitude of the event and its impact on the campus, procedures may need to be adjusted and check-in/out may take time.
Epi-Pen/Epi-Ready Stations
Numerous students on the St. Simon campus have allergies to nuts and other elements that can lead to serious shock if not addressed in the first few minutes after exposure (these students are identified by their parents with a medical plan, and information is provided to the teachers and contained in a binder in the health office). In the event of an anaphylactic emergency, we have installed Epi-Ready stations (small, wall-mounted blue boxes containing Epi-Pens and adjacent instruction posters) in four locations across campus:
- The Epi-Ready stations are located in the Health Office (lower school building next to the main office), the Faculty Lounge (in the upper building, installed on the medicine chest), the Athletic Office in the Parish Center (though this is locked in a cabinet -- due to supervision concerns -- with the instructional poster on the outside), and in the Pre-K/Extended Care building (behind the gated area, above the counter and on the wall).
- The Epi-Ready stations are blue and will have an instructional poster next to the box (these posters identify the symptoms, use of the pen, and follow up care); please note there are also instructions on the Epi-Pens themselves.