R-FH Administrators, Police Prep for Emergencies with FEMA Course

Well before Hurricane Sandy struck the shore area with unprecedented force,  administrators at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (R-FH) were determined to take their emergency preparedness to the highest possible level.

They took a major step towards that goal by recently taking advantage of a golden opportunity provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

R-FH is one of a handful of New Jersey schools to send a team of professionals to FEMA's Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools, an intensive four-day course held in the National Emergency Training Center in Emmittsville, Maryland.

The R-FH Board of Education backed the school's decision to send six administrators and four first responders to the session held from April 22 to 25, one of three held each year.  

The FEMA course is dedicated to the successful creation, maintenance, and deployment of an airtight Emergency Operation Plan (EOP). EOPs are crucial for keeping students and staff safe in case of an emergency, as well as communicating effectively to the surrounding community including parents and guardians.

"We knew going in that our EOP was a very good one, but we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to work as a team and identify any improvements that could be made" R-FH Superintendent Peter Righi said.

R-FH administrators attending the training, along with Righi, were: Principal Tracy Handerhan, Vice-Principal Chris Lanzalotto, Business Administrator Frank Gripp, Technology Supervisor Chris Alworth, and Supervisor of Building and Grounds Thomas Buffa.

Rumson Police Chief Scott Paterson and Captain Jeff Nixon were in attendance along with Fair Haven Police Chief Darryl Breckenridge and Lt. Joe McGovern.

"This course allowed us to come together as a group and focus solely on improving our plan, without the day-to-day interruptions we would have had elsewhere," said Buffa.

Chief Paterson agreed, saying, "To see the dedication from top to bottom and the willingness to work together as a team was inspiring and will be highly beneficial to the safety of all involved, especially our students."

While at the session, the RFH team addressed topics such as understanding the intricacies of incident management, forming the planning team, developing a school EOP for all types of instances, training for the implementation of the plan, and regularly updating the plan.

Righi found the "Roundtable" planning discussions to be especially helpful. "During these brainstorming sessions, we would create all different types of scenarios — such as an instance where a storm has knocked out power — and quickly come up with steps that would be taken," he said. "The Roundtable Discussions were a real lesson in thinking proactively."

Handerhan found the roundtable discussions to be invaluable as well, and was also grateful for the opportunity to attend the four-day course. 

"The FEMA course required our team to consider many scenarios through different lenses," she noted. "The opportunity to work so closely with law enforcement and with FEMA staff was such a valuable experience, and I feel fortunate to have trained in such a detailed manner."

According to the FEMA website, upon completion of this course attendees will be better equipped to handle vital tasks including: describing how the EOP fits into district, community and personal/family emergency management plans; identifying and assessing natural, technological, and human-caused hazards likely to impact the school; knowing each necessary component of an EOP and creating a timetable for accomplishing all related tasks; understanding and identifying the types of exercises available to train for the school EOP; and more.

While attending Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools, the R-FH team also enhanced their understanding of the Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS provides an organizational structure for incident management and enables a coordinated response among various jurisdictions. Using the ICS for every incident or practice drill helps users develop the protocols needed for large-scale events.

Gripp noted that having the full team present at the session is key to the success of the EOP plan.

"Combining school administration experiences with local law enforcement experiences allowed us to focus on revisiting our plan its in entirety in order to discover and correct any gaps within the plan," he said.