Introduction
As a result of the school’s earthquake and fire crises, half of the classes were damaged necessitating temporary relocation. Also, 25 families were adversely affected and may not have a place for shelter; therefore, the school will have to take care of these families until a better solution is established. More so, the students, staff, children and existing families will be put to programs that will assist them to recover from the psychological impact of the crisis. The following actions will help to restore the school to normalcy within an estimated period of two weeks.
Recovery Phase
In order to allow for a faster recovery, full activities will be initiated by the third day after the occurrence of the crisis. During this stage, students will be provided with emotional support in order to reduce the levels of stress (Pines, n.d). This will ensure that a smooth transition into the school’s routine is achieved and everything is back to normal (U.S. Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools, 2007). The under-listed departments (figure 1.0, Appendix 1) and individuals will aid in the recovery process as described:
The Mental Health Officer (MHO)
- In collaboration with the medical department, the mental health officer will help in the coordination and provision of mental health resources during recovery phase.
- The MHO will start offering the services from day one and may continue offering psychological (stress management) recovery activities for several weeks.
- These services are expected to help the students, staff, and families recover from the psychological impact of the crisis (Pines, n.d).
School’s Command/Management
- Meanwhile, the school management will seek outside help from donors and request volunteers to come and help with the recovery progress.
- The funds will be used to sustain (food and medical supplies) the remaining 25 families that have been rendered homeless by the crisis (earthquake).
- Also, part of the funds will be used to renovate the damaged classes and help to secure a temporary off-school facility to urgently accommodate affected students.
Operation Section/Department
- This is a large department that will offer recovery services that include: Providing medical services; securing alternative shelters; providing stress management services; and arranging for the release of families that have recovered.
- Children will be monitored closely to ensure a faster recovery so that families can be released earlier and allow normal school routine to be restored.
- Actualization of these activities will depend on the funds collected from donors, but more effort will be put to ensure the school has recovered by week two.
- Furthermore, the funds received from donors and finance department will be used to renovate damaged classes and the laboratory.
Finance and Logistics Departments
- These departments will work together to ensure funds are released urgently for purchase of food, medical supplies and equipment required during recovery.
- The funds will be used to support the 25 families that will remain in the school after the crisis period.
Public Information Officer
- As the public information officer, I will schedule meetings with the media in order to update them on our current state in the recovery process.
- Also, I will clarify all the information about the crisis and ensure that earlier records about the crisis are valid and correct to the best of our knowledge.
- This will ensure that the school’s image is not tarnished and more donor funds can be received to attend to the needs of the remaining families.
Students, Teachers and other Staff
- All the students, teachers and other staff are expected to adhere to the recovery plans so that the school can be back to normalcy by the predicted two weeks.
- This will be done by taking part in scheduled recovery programs with mental health officers and doctors. The services will be made available from the multipurpose hall at specified times of the day. Also, guiding will be extended to classes (resuming in two weeks) and expected to run for several weeks.
Closing the Loop
After the recovery phase is complete and successful, the school will conduct a procedure to evaluate each of the incidences (U.S. Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools, 2007). The evaluation will be aimed at establishing the following:
- What worked or failed during the process: Will aid in establishing better methods.
- How to improve the operations employed during the recovery phase.
- How to use the learnt lessons to improve future cases.
- Identification of the best approaches to use in responding to different genders and age groups.
- Update and strengthen the plan to ensure maximum efficiency in future crises.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the recovery phase is expected to be successful and take the shortest time possible. As such, the school is expected to come back to normalcy and assume its normal routine within the first two weeks of the recovery process. However, students will still be given psychological and other stress management services for several weeks to ensure total recovery. The remaining 25 families will also be subject to these services together with their children as relocation plans are still being figured out. In general, the well planned and executed recovery process will leave all affected parties in a stress free and sound state of mind.
List of References
Pines, M. (n.d). Practical School Mental Health Crisis Intervention Teams: A Vital Component of School Crisis Management Using the Standardized Emergency Management System. Web.
U.S. Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools, U.S. Department of Education. (2007). Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A guidebook for schools and community. Web.
Appendix 1
