Beyond Code Red

Every Blazer knows the drill. Shut the door, cover the windows, turn off the lights, stay away from the entrances and whatever you do, don't make any noise. To many students, Code Red and Code Blue drills are just a short break in the school day. By now, nearly every student knows why an alert would be sounded. But what most Blazers don't know is what happens when the situation outside is so life threatening that no one is allowed to leave the building.

For these rare events, MCPS has developed a code that exceeds even Code Red. It's called Code Blue Shelter-in-Place, which is activated when an emergency or crisis makes it necessary to keep students and staff indoors for their safety. Although this can include weather-related emergencies, the shelter-in-place system was primarily established to be used in the event of a chemical, biological or radiological incident, according to MCPS emergency plans. Students and staff must be brought indoors—quickly—or their very lives may be in danger.

Lock down

With the exception of the students and staff that immediately enter the building after the alert has been called, MCPS rules prohibit anyone from entering or leaving schools during a Code Blue Shelter-in-Place. This includes students, staff and parents who were trapped outside, as well as people in portable classrooms. "Initially, the students [in portables] will remain in their locations," says John Crowley, the Project/Training Coordinator for MCPS's Department of School Safety and Security. "They will remain until it has been determined that it is safe for them to move."

Air quality is a primary concern during a shelter-in-place. To protect against air-born hazards, all exterior doors must be immediately locked and secured, and every window in the building must be closed and locked. In addition, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems must be immediately shut down. While the buildings are not airtight, these three steps help try to "create a neutral atmosphere" where no air would flow in or out of the building, according to Crowley.

The chances of late-arriving students and staff to still get in the building once a shelter-in-place has been set up are slim. Public safety or MCPS officials would first have to determine that the entire school would not be exposed to the risk of contamination. If they do, they could order staff to direct the late-comers to a separate part of the school in order to protect the main school body from possible exposure to a hazardous material. However, Mark Curran, Blair's Safety Officer, says that, in his view, no one would get in after the initial lockdown, as the danger of contamination is too high.

Survival

While the initial steps taken during a shelter-in-place are focused on immediate survival and safety, students could possibly be forced to remain in the school for several hours or even days. MCPS requires that their schools be well prepared for this possibility. "Every school is equipped with a two-to-three-day supply of food," says Edward Clarke, the MCPS Director of School Safety and Security. If the shelter-in-place lasted longer, "we would coordinate with the American Red Cross in order to get food to the schools," he says.

At Blair, these emergency foods are stored with the regular cafeteria supplies. "We keep mostly canned goods. We have water, juice, fruit cups, pudding and peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches," says Blair's cafeteria manager, Maddalena Bianchini. Every other month, a new order for the food is placed, while the previously stored food is sold to the students during lunchtime.

Crowley says that while there is some stored water and other drinks at schools, the lack of drinks is not anticipated as a being a problem during a shelter-in-place. Because shelter-in-place situations almost exclusively deal with the atmosphere, "underground water will be accessible and usable." If these conditions change, safe liquids would be trucked to school.

In the case of an extremely long shelter-in-place, sleeping arrangements for students would be decided on a "case-to-case basis," according to Clarke. Curran says that without a county-wide plan for this scenario, plans for sleeping arrangements would be a directive from the Central Office and would likely follow the general rules of a standard Code Blue. This means that teachers would stay in classrooms with the same students that were in their classes. "A plan would be made at the time," Curran says, guessing that staff would try to find rugs or other coverings to serve as blankets for the thousands of Blair students.

The MCPS command system

As soon as a Code Blue Shelter-in-Place is called, a predetermined chain of command is instantly put into place. MCPS uses the "Incident Command System,” or ICS, which is a nationally recognized emergency management model used throughout Montgomery County. The ICS is "a tool that gives administration and management in a crisis," according to Clarke, who is a strong advocate for the system.

At the top of each school's ICS is the Incident Commander, who, at Blair, is Principal Philip Gainous. Underneath him are four different teams: operations, logistics, planning and finance/administration, each with their own head officer. The Incident Commander is also directly above safety, public information and liaison officers. Each team and officer has a predetermined duties and tasks to carry out, whether it be immediate actions or preparing for what lies ahead. "The planning team looks ahead 20 minutes, two hours, six hours, to try to see how the incident will evolve," says Clarke.

Each team is further divided until every task has been assigned to a faculty member with at least one backup. These faculty members are part of the on-site emergency team, or OSET. According to Curran, there are current 53 people on Blair's OSET team.

While Gainous is the Incident Commander at Blair, a crisis situation would likely entail the creation of "unified command," where two incident commanders work together. For example, in a crisis dealing with criminal activity, the police chief, as the incident commander of his vicinity, may work with Gainous in order to make the best decisions for Blair students. Gainous is also subject to the MCPS command system, with Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast as the incident commander.

MCPS is nationally recognized as having one of the best designed emergency plans in the country. However, several events in the past few years have helped increase the organization and effectiveness of the system. "After Columbine, we got better," Clarke said. Every year, the plan was updated and improved upon, but after Sept. 11, 2001, Weast asked for a complete reevaluation, which pushed the design into being a national example. Each school also has its own crisis plan, which must be reevaluated every 45 days, according to Curran.

The return home

Once public officials have determined that the air is safe for people to breathe and move around normally in, schools must begin the Parent/Child Reunification Process. "In the SAC area, there would be 10 tables with students' yellow cards arranged alphabetically," says Curran, referring to the yellow information cards students are required to turn in at the start of every school year. Parents must show a photo ID in order to pick up their student, who would be called down from class. In this fashion, all 3,400 Blair students would eventually return home.

Even though there has never been a test of the Code Blue Shelter-in-Place, Curran has no doubt that the system will work. "With the facility that Blair has," Curran says, a shelter in place "would be able to happen safely and calmly."