Big Five Basics
You are told there is a hazardous material spill on a nearby roadway. The hazard is outside the school and may affect the air around campus.
What Big 5 protocol is appropriate?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus: Name two other situations that could call for this protocol.
Shelter in Place
Why: It isolates students and staff from the outdoor environment and prevents exposure to airborne contaminants or outside threats.
⭐ SAFETY SHIELD BONUS ANSWER: Any two of the following:
A parent becomes angry in the front office and refuses to leave. There is no weapon, no immediate threat of violence, and no indication that the situation requires a Big 5 protocol.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: What changes would cause you to reassess the situation?
Follow established visitor/de-escalation procedures and notify administration.
Why: Not every concerning situation requires a Big 5 protocol. Staff should assess the situation and follow district procedures.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer:
You would reassess if the situation changes from disruptive behavior to an immediate safety threat.
Look for changes such as:
Police are searching for a potentially dangerous individual several blocks from school. Officers request that the school keep everyone inside while they conduct the search.
Which protocol?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: Is this automatically a Lockdown/Barricade?
Secure Campus
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer: No. The scenario describes a threat/activity in the surrounding community rather than an imminent threat on campus.
The classroom suddenly begins shaking. Books fall from shelves and ceiling fixtures move.
What is your immediate action?
⭐ Bonus: What might happen after the shaking stops?
Drop, Cover, and Hold On
Why: It protects students and staff from falling and flying debris during an earthquake or explosion.
⭐ Bonus question answer: Depending on conditions, the response may transition to Evacuation.
A person is found unresponsive. A staff member suspects an opioid overdose.
What are the immediate priorities?
⭐ Bonus: Who should be sent to meet EMS?
Call 911 and initiate the appropriate emergency response. If available and authorized/trained, administer Narcan and provide appropriate first aid/CPR.
There is police activity in the neighborhood surrounding the school. Officers have not identified an immediate threat on campus and ask the school to keep everyone inside.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus: How is this different from Lockdown/Barricade?
Secure Campus
Why: Secure Campus is appropriate when law enforcement activity or a potential threat of violence is occurring in the surrounding community.
⭐⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer: Secure Campus is used when there is a potential threat or law-enforcement activity in the surrounding community and there is not an imminent threat of violence on campus.
Lockdown/Barricade is used when there is an imminent threat of violence or gunfire on campus, or when law enforcement directs the school to do so.
Our campus begins under Secure Campus because of police activity in the neighborhood. Ten minutes later, law enforcement reports that the threat has moved onto school property.
What should staff recognize?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: Why is it important not to assume the original protocol will remain in place?
The response may need to transition to Lockdown Barricade.
Why: Emergency conditions can change. Staff must continue to monitor their situational awareness skills, keep with proper protocols, and follow directions from administration and law enforcement.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus answer: A situation can change. The appropriate response can change with it.
Law enforcement reports an imminent threat of violence on campus and directs the school to initiate its emergency response.
Which protocol?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: What is your responsibility once Lockdown/Barricade is initiated?
Lockdown/Barricade
Why: An imminent threat of violence or gunfire on campus calls for Lockdown/Barricade.
⭐Safety Shield Bonus Answer: Follow established lockdown procedures and remain in the designated classroom or lockdown location until officially released.
Wildfire smoke moves into the area. Air quality outside becomes unhealthy, but there is no immediate fire threat to the campus.
Which protocol?
⭐ Bonus: What should staff monitor after implementing Shelter in Place?
Shelter in Place
Why: Shelter in Place protects students and staff from unhealthy outdoor air and airborne contaminants.
⭐ Bonus Answer: Official district/emergency information and changing conditions.
A staff member discovers an individual who may be experiencing an opioid overdose. Another trained staff member retrieves Narcan.
What is the purpose of Narcan?
⭐ Bonus: Does administering Narcan replace calling 911?
Narcan (naloxone) can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose and restore breathing when administered appropriately.
⭐ Bonus Answer: No. Emergency medical services should be activated according to district procedures.
A threat of extreme violence is identified on campus. Law enforcement directs the school to initiate its emergency response.
Which Protocol?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus: What is the most important difference between Secure Campus and Lockdown/Barricade?
Lockdown/Barricade
Why: This protocol is used when there is an imminent threat of violence or gunfire on campus, or when directed by law enforcement.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer: The location and immediacy of the threat.
A staff member sees an unfamiliar person attempting to enter through a side gate.
The person is not threatening anyone and there is no known emergency.
A teacher asks: "Should we initiate Lockdown?"
What should staff do?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: What information would cause you to reassess the situation?
Not automatically.
Staff should:
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus answer:
Examples:
A staff member sees police officers outside the school and assumes the school is in Lockdown/Barricade. No announcement has been made, and there is no known threat on campus.
What should the staff member do?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: Why can acting on assumptions create additional safety problems?
Do not assume.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer:
Because acting on incomplete or incorrect information can:
A powerful earthquake occurs.
The shaking stops.
A teacher immediately tells students:
"Everyone outside! We need to evacuate!"
Is that necessarily the correct next step?
⭐ Bonus: Why shouldn't staff automatically evacuate during the shaking?
Not necessarily.
The immediate response during the earthquake is:
Drop, Cover, and Hold On
After the shaking stops, staff should assess conditions and follow emergency procedures.
If the building is unsafe, Evacuation may then be appropriate.
⭐ Bonus Answer: Because falling and flying debris can create significant hazards.
A student experiences a serious medical emergency in a classroom. One staff member calls 911, another contacts the office, another stays with the student, and another meets emergency responders.
What safety principle is being demonstrated?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus: Why is it valuable to assign specific roles rather than having everyone respond at once?
Teamwork and clear role assignment.
⭐ Safety Shield Answer: It reduces confusion, ensures critical tasks are covered, and supports an organized emergency response.
A strong chemical odor is detected inside a classroom. Staff cannot determine the source, and remaining inside may be unsafe.
Which protocol may be appropriate?
⭐ Bonus Question: What information should you communicate to the office or emergency responders?
Evacuation
Why: Evacuation is used when conditions make it unsafe to remain inside the building.
⭐ Bonus Answer: Give responders the facts you know—do not enter or investigate an unsafe area just to identify the source.
A staff member is told that an armed person has entered a nearby area of campus. The staff member can safely move away from the threat, but students are with them. What should they do?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question
What should you do if you cannot safely Run, and what determines when you may need to Defend?
RUN — If there is a safe escape route away from the threat, leave the area immediately. Take students with you if it can be done safely, move away from the danger, and follow law enforcement instructions.
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer:
HIDE — If you cannot safely escape, secure yourself and others in a safe location, lock or barricade the door if possible, silence phones, and remain quiet.
DEFEND is a last resort when you are confronted by an imminent threat and cannot safely Run or Hide. The goal is to protect yourself and others from the immediate threat until law enforcement arrives.
Key takeaway:
RUN if you can. HIDE if you can't. DEFEND only as a last resort when confronted with an imminent threat.
At 10:00 a.m., police notify the school that they are conducting an operation in the neighborhood.
They tell the school:
"Please keep everyone inside and restrict entry and exit until we give you further instructions."
There is no known threat on campus.
Which protocol is most appropriate?
Secure Campus Why?
The law-enforcement activity is occurring in the surrounding community, not because there is an imminent threat on campus.
⭐ Bonus
What would cause this to become a Lockdown/Barricade situation?
Answer
An imminent threat of violence or gunfire on campus, or direction from law enforcement to initiate Lockdown/Barricade.
An earthquake occurs.
Staff and students complete Drop, Cover, and Hold On.
The shaking stops.
Staff discover:
What should staff consider?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus
What makes this different from simply saying "There was an earthquake, so evacuate"?
Evacuation may be necessary because conditions may make the building unsafe.
Staff should follow established emergency procedures and official directions.
⭐ Safety Shield Answer: The decision is based on the conditions following the earthquake, not simply the fact that an earthquake occurred.
A serious incident occurs on campus and several people are injured. First responders have been notified but are more than 5 minutes away. Staff must provide assistance until help arrives.
How should staff prioritize the injured, and what level of treatment should they provide?
Staff should use triage—quickly identifying who needs immediate assistance and prioritizing life-threatening injuries first. Triage means doing the greatest good for the greatest number—address life-threatening conditions first and provide only the care you are trained to provide.
🔴 Immediate / Critical: Life-threatening conditions such as severe bleeding, difficulty breathing, or unresponsiveness. Provide immediate lifesaving first aid within your training, such as controlling severe bleeding or providing CPR/AED when appropriate.
🟡 Urgent / Serious: Significant injuries that require medical attention but are not immediately life-threatening. Provide basic first aid and monitor the person.
🟢 Minor / Walking Wounded: Minor injuries such as small cuts or scrapes. Provide basic first aid when resources allow and direct them to a safe area.
⚫ Deceased / No signs of life: In a mass-casualty situation, staff should follow emergency responder direction and not allow one victim to consume resources needed for someone who can be saved.
A school receives a report that a dangerous chemical spill has occurred on a roadway near campus. The spill is outside the school, and there is concern that fumes could reach the campus.
At the same time, a teacher asks:
"Should we evacuate because there's a hazardous-material incident?"
What Big 5 protocol is most appropriate, and what factor determines your decision?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: When might the response change from Shelter in Place to Evacuation?
Shelter in Place
The key factor is where the hazard is and whether remaining inside provides protection from the outdoor threat.
Shelter in Place is appropriate when students and staff need to be isolated from the outdoor environment, including:
⭐Safety Shield Bonus Answer: If conditions make the building unsafe or emergency officials/directives indicate that leaving the building is safer, the response may transition to Evacuation.
A school begins the morning under normal operations.
Then:
Stage 1: A disruptive individual is reported outside campus.
Stage 2: The individual begins threatening people.
Stage 3: Police are called.
Stage 4: Law enforcement reports the person may be attempting to enter campus.
Your Challenge
At each stage, what should staff be doing?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Question: What is the biggest mistake staff could make?
Stage 1: Assess and follow district campus/visitor procedure.
Stage 2: Notify administration and reassess the threat.
Stage 3: Follow directions from administration/law enforcement.
Stage 4: If an imminent threat of violence exists on campus, Lockdown/Barricade may be appropriate
⭐Bonus Safety Shield Answer: Assuming the situation hasn't changed.
Emergency response requires staff to:
Observe → Communicate → Assess → Respond → Reassess
A staff member sees several police vehicles near campus.
A colleague says:
"Police are here! We must be on Lockdown!"
Another staff member says:
"I heard there was an incident somewhere in town."
What should staff do?
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus
Why can acting on incomplete information be dangerous?
Do not rely on assumptions or rumors.
Staff should:
⭐ Safety Shield Bonus Answer:
Because the wrong response can create confusion, interfere with emergency operations, or move people into an unsafe environment. "Don't let the rumor become the emergency."
At 8:30 a.m., wildfire smoke creates unhealthy outdoor air.
➡️ Shelter in Place
At 9:15 a.m., conditions worsen and officials report that the building itself is no longer safe.
What happens to your response?
⭐ 500-Point Bonus
What principle does this scenario teach?
The response may need to change from Shelter in Place to Evacuation, following official emergency direction.
⭐ 500-Point Bonus Answer: Emergency protocols are not static. Staff must continuously assess changing conditions and follow official direction. Think On Your Feet!
A student suddenly collapses in a classroom.
You have five adults nearby.
The student is unresponsive.
Your team has 30 seconds to assign roles.
Who:
⭐ SAFETY SHIELD BONUS — 100 POINTS
Why is assigning roles better than having five people all rush toward the student?
There isn't one "correct" person for each role.
The correct response is to:
Assign clear roles quickly.
The team should ensure that:
⭐ SAFETY SHIELD BONUS Answer: Because organized teamwork reduces confusion and ensures critical tasks aren't missed.
Examples:
One person:
Calls 911
One:
Stays with the student
One:
Gets the AED/medical supplies
One:
Gets Narcan when appropriate
One:
Meets EMS