An Oklahoma City high school recently came under fire for a lack of emergency preparedness after the mother of one student, who has a mobile disability, voiced her concerns about the lack of evacuation planning on the part of the school and local fire department. According to an article published by local news station KFOR, “a recent school fire drill revealed to Misty Wainman that her 14-year-old, who is confined to a wheelchair, had no way of evacuating from her 2nd floor classroom.”
It is alarming that this type of concern would arise in Oklahoma City, which was the center of national attention after experiencing two EF5 tornadoes earlier this year. This is heightened by the fact that most of the schools in Oklahoma do not comply with state laws regarding emergency preparedness. Below are several points highlighting key facts regarding this lack of preparedness:
- Most school crisis management plans fail to address proper evacuation for persons who are immobile, disabled or injured.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires public entities to “ensure that individuals with disabilities are not excluded from services, programs and activities because buildings are inaccessible.” The plan put forth by the Oklahoma City Fire Department currently does not adhere to this standard. As stated in the article, “Department officials are encouraging the school to keep [the student] in the stairwell until firefighters arrive. They say that’s the safest option.” Known as “shelter in place”, this option is not the correct solution in many disaster situations.
- Evacuation procedures in response to a bomb threat require students to be moved to a safe location at least 300 feet from the building. This should include the injured and persons with disabilities, but the school’s current plans do not provide a strategy for such an occurrence.
- Oklahoma state law requires all schools in Oklahoma to update their emergency preparedness plans annually and keep them on file with their local office of emergency management; however, only 55 of the 198 schools under this jurisdiction currently have a plan on file.
- According to Oklahoma City Public Schools, 13% of the 43,000 students in the district have disabilities or special needs. That is a total of 5,590 students who are currently being put at a higher risk during emergency situations due to insufficient emergency planning standards.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department is neither considering the ADA in their evacuation plans nor adequately preparing for mid-to-large scale evacuation scenarios. This is particularly troubling regarding the recent meteorological disasters that have taken place in the state.
In response to the concern of the parent, Joe Pandolfo, President of Med Sled®, issued several pertinent questions that the parent could ask both school administrators and fire department officials regarding their lack of proper evacuation planning:
- The school’s initial plan was to have staff members retrieve the disabled student from the waiting area. Below are questions from Med Sled® addressing school preparedness plans:
- Have you considered the safety of these staff members and the danger they would be facing during this scenario?
- Have you considered volatile situations such as gas leaks or fires in which it will be unsafe to leave the student in the building?
- Are you aware that your evacuation plans up until this point have not complied with the requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act that all public facilities should be made accessible and safe for persons with disabilities?
- The Fire Department’s plan was for the student to remain stationary (shelter in place) until they could arrive on scene and provide assistance. Below are questions from Med Sled® addressing the problems with these evacuation procedures:
- Do you realize that the current plan does not provide for the evacuation of multiple students in an area-wide evacuation scenario?
- Will your response time in an event such as a bomb threat or tornado be quick enough to get the student out of harm’s way?
- How do you account for evacuation scenarios such as gas leaks in which it is required for the utilities to be shut down before entering the building? Would you leave the student waiting that entire time?
- If it is not safe for mobile students to be left waiting inside the building, why would you leave students with disabilities behind?
As this story was a subject of local news coverage, it is clear that parents in the area were concerned over the apparent disregard of school and public officials for staff and student safety. However, we at Med Sled would like to shine a light on this issue so that schools and emergency personnel across the country can be adequately prepared to respond when faced with a worst-case scenario.