Local schools prepare for 'the big one'

Los Altos Town Crier
Issue 22, Published on Wednesday, May 28, 2008

By Traci Newell

It's 10:45 a.m., and students all over Los Altos and Mountain View hear an announcement from their respective school officials - "Duck and cover, a major earthquake is striking the area."

The students automatically hush as they crawl under their desks and tuck their hands behind their necks for the 45-second drill simulating the amount of time shaking might occur.

Students from the Los Altos School District, the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District and various local private schools participated in mock earthquake preparations May 20 in an effort to integrate the National Incidence Management Systems (NIMS) into annual earthquake response exercises.

NIMS, a 2005 mandate of the U.S. Department of Education, provides for an ongoing communication and information flow so that effective decision-making can occur during a disaster. The process includes a Standardized Emergency Management System, a unified command, an emergency operation center and an incident command system.

"A lot of this was learning the management system, practicing it and learning to do it quickly," said Carla Holtzclaw, founder of Code Red Training Associates, a San Jose-based business that organizes Code Red Drills for schools. Holtzclaw encouraged the local schools and districts to stage the exercise.

"When you have a massive earthquake, the schools are on their own," she said. "So they have to be ready to respond. What we practiced is what to do when you can't count on the firemen and the police. How do you do when there is no one to help you?"

After the "shaking" had stopped at Oak School, students walked quietly out of their classrooms in single-file around designated "collapsed areas" to a meeting spot on the outdoor blacktop.

Teachers took attendance, then simulated reporting "missing" students. Once a headcount was communicated, several teachers geared up as search and rescue teams, returning to classrooms to retrieve the "injured" students via wheelchairs and stretchers.

After nearly 45 minutes, all students, including those simulating injuries, were accounted for, and Oak School Principal

Dave McNulty made the call into the district command center to communicate the "injuries," "building damage" and headcount.

Parent volunteers also participated. They reacted hysterically and tried to collect their children before the designated time, as instructed.

"It's critical that parents know their role in an emergency," Holtzclaw said. "Parents should take the lead in traffic control, and they should calm one another down. Parents will want to take their kids, but they need to understand the school has procedures to follow."

Holtzclaw suggested that parents put multiple names on their children's emergency cards, including family, friends and neighbors who are allowed to pick up their children in the event of an emergency.

"The parents set the tone for the children's behavior," Holtzclaw said. "If the parents are hysterical, the children will be hysterical. If they stay calm, the kids will stay calm."