Offering insight on school emergency operations plans (EOP), Wyoming Homeland Security will present a two-day multi-hazard training program for school officials in the Platte Valley.
According to Russell Clark, trainer/coordinator for the Wyoming Homeland Security Training Program, the free course at the Platte Valley Community Center will provide schools with the knowledge, skills and tools needed to refine or develop an all-hazards school EOP, and identify how to train and exercise the plan. The course, hosted by Carbon County Emergency Management, also explains how to utilize the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as the foundation for planning and building partnerships with outside agencies such as law enforcement, fire and emergency management.
“This course will enable schools to review their emergency operations plan, and develop areas of improvement for changes and updates,” Clark said. “People can identify what they’re doing now, and learn new information or ways for improvement.”
The target audience for this course is school administrators, staff, local emergency managers and first responders who are interested in comprehensive emergency planning for grades K-12. John Zeiger, Carbon County Emergency Management Coordinator, said this will be a major training program brought to Saratoga.
“I get a certain amount of money in my budget for emergency management, and one of my jobs is to continue to get training,” he said. “I have brought several trainings to Saratoga, and I feel the more training I can be bringing to Carbon County, I’m benefiting more than just myself. If you have an old plan, maybe this program is a way to update that plan. I think a lot of plans have to be updated yearly or every two years at the most.”
Saratoga Middle/High School Principal Larry Uhling said he was excited to attend and learn about any new guidelines presented for schools.
“It seems like you hear about more and more incidents now, so I’d like to know what we should be doing differently from what we are doing now,” he said. “I’d like to know about what kind of training staff members and kids will get on evacuating or how to evacuate, and those types of things. There are fire drills, lockdowns and so many other things you have to know about. It can be anything from something blowing over to something blowing up.”
Zeiger said there are several people signed up for the program, including officials from Carbon County School District No. 2, the Wyoming National Guard, Cheyenne/Laramie County Emergency Management, South Central Wyoming Emergency Services, the Rawlins Police Department, the Hanna Marshals Office, the Town of Saratoga, Crook/Weston County Public Health, the Goshen County School District and Cheyenne/Laramie County EMA. He said there are many things that teachers, administrators and others who work for the school district can learn from the program.
“I think it’s important that we have a good plan in place up there, and I think one that needs to deal with everything from bullying to an active shooter,” Zeiger said. “We need to work with them on the plans and have exercises up there to see how both sides work together. I also have to always be updating plans and working on plans, so anything I can pick up that way, knowledge-wise, is always a benefit.”
There are no prerequisites for the course, and one may contact Russell Clark, at 307-358-1920 or [email protected], for more information. The course takes place from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., on both Feb. 6 and 7, and is held at the PVCC, 210 W. Elm St. in Saratoga.
To register for the course, visit http://www.eventbrite.com/o/wyoming-homeland-security-training-program-250348256, and scroll down to the Saratoga section. Click on the “Attend” button.
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