المملكة: How do you enhance readiness in schools to deal with emergency crises?

The Public Health Authority “Weqaya” issued a comprehensive guide aimed at enhancing readiness in schools to deal with emergency crises.
She highlighted the preventive steps and measures that ensure the safety of all members of the school community.

Ensuring student safety

She stressed the importance of the pivotal roles played by school principals, health advisors and teachers to ensure the safety of students in the face of emergency situations inside educational facilities.
She explained that this role requires clearly distributing responsibilities and carefully coordinating efforts to ensure rapid response and reduce risks resulting from emergency situations.

Pivotal school roles

The guide included identifying the most prominent roles played by educational and administrative personnel in dealing with emergency situations.
The role of the classroom teacher begins with the responsibility of being informed in advance of the students’ medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy, to ensure readiness for rapid action in the event of any health emergency occurring inside or outside the classroom.
The class teacher is also required to respond quickly to the complaint of the injured student, and to take the initiative to provide first aid in cooperation with the health advisor or trained staff.

The injured student

The teacher’s role includes placing the injured student under observation, following up on severe cases until they are transferred to the hospital when necessary, and accompanying the injured student if the situation requires it.
In addition, the teacher is tasked with informing the school principal of the case as soon as it occurs, and providing psychological and moral support to the affected student to ensure the stability of his health condition..
The role of the health mentor is considered pivotal and integrated, as it requires him to take the initiative to notify the school principal immediately upon the occurrence of any health emergency, and to work to provide the necessary first aid to the injured person in cooperation with the trained staff within the school.

Call the Red Crescent

He is also required to call the Red Crescent when needed, and to monitor the student’s medical condition in his health file to facilitate access to medical information in the future.
The role of the health advisor includes recording all the patient’s data, such as vital measurements (temperature, pulse, breathing), and ensuring that the health condition is carefully monitored.
The health mentor is required to provide psychological and moral support to the injured student, accompany critical cases if necessary, and submit the necessary reports and recommendations to the school administration to ensure that cases are dealt with effectively.

Dealing with chronic diseases

In addition, the health mentor must be fully aware of how to deal with chronic and hereditary diseases within the school, such as cases of diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy, which may turn into emergency situations that require his rapid intervention..

The school principal is responsible for supervising all processes of dealing with emergency cases, including calling the Red Crescent and communicating with the school’s health center to inform them of the existence of an emergency and notify them that an ambulance has been called.
The principal must also notify the guardian of the injured student immediately upon the occurrence of the condition, and assign the health director or one of the teachers to accompany the injured student if the condition requires immediate transfer to the hospital.

School principal responsibilities

One of the school principal’s responsibilities is to ensure that emergency numbers, such as those of the Red Crescent, the health center, and the nearest hospital, are available, and placed in prominent places that are easily accessible by all workers within the school.
The director is keen to complete the procedures for linking the school to its health center, and to ensure that the health supervisor obtains the necessary training to provide first aid.
The director’s responsibilities also include providing psychological support to injured students, monitoring and recording all emergency cases, in addition to dealing with cases not specified in the guide according to the roles distributed..

Emergency situations

The guide highlighted emergency situations that may face the school community that require immediate preparedness and rapid response.
These cases include fainting, suffocation, bleeding and wounds, head injury, convulsions, burns, fractures, bites and stings, electric shocks, heat stress, sunstroke, diabetic attacks, and asthma attacks.
In addition to any other emergency situations that pose a danger to the injured person and require calling an ambulance.

Ready for immediate dealing

The guide emphasized the importance of providing basic requirements to ensure the safety of students and school staff. These requirements include forming a school emergency team that will prepare a comprehensive annual emergency plan that includes the procedures to be followed in various emergency situations.
It also includes training the health supervisor and school employees, including teachers and students, on how to deal with emergency situations, while providing emergency numbers in prominent places to ensure easy access to them when needed..

Prevention and evacuation procedures

The guide stressed the need to follow preventive measures within schools, such as educating school staff and students through periodic training courses, and organizing morning radio segments aimed at increasing students’ awareness of the importance of proper behavior during emergencies.
He also recommended distributing leaflets and information boards throughout the school, and closing places that might pose a threat to the safety of students.

Promote a safe environment

The Public Health Authority confirmed that implementing this guide constitutes an essential step towards enhancing the safe environment in schools, and ensuring an effective and rapid response to any emergency that may occur.
The authority called on all concerned parties in the school community to cooperate and commit to implementing the provisions of this guide to achieve the highest levels of safety and security within educational facilities.