HOW TO CONDUCT AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL IN SCHOOLS INTRODUCTION: It is important to orient people on earthquake preparedness in order to be informed of what to do before,

during and after an earthquake. During an earthquake, school children are one of the most vulnerable. As such, it is important for school administrators and teachers to be informed on how to properly conduct an earthquake drill. Teachers are the ones who will teach students how to protect themselves. The conduct of an earthquake drill requires planning and designing of evacuation procedure, as well as orienting teachers and ultimately students on how to do the earthquake drill. Earthquake drills are simple and easy to do. It only requires planning ahead and constant practice. The conduct of an earthquake drill is different from that of a fire drill. In a fire drill, the sound of a siren or bell means that a fire is going on and all occupants of the building are to immediately evacuate to ensure their safety. In an earthquake drill, the sound of a siren or bell indicates that a strong shaking is ongoing and the level of the ground shaking prevents people to stand and move around. To do so can cause in ury to the person as debris can fall and hurt him. !ne is not supposed to get out of the building while shaking is ongoing. OBJECTIVES OF EARTHQUAKE DRILLS: ". To ensure the safety of parents, teachers and students during and after the damaging earthquake. #. To help school administrators and their disaster action group to design a specific response plan of the school for earthquakes.

$. To train teachers, school staff and students on how to practice proper action and response during earthquakes and %. To test various elements of the response plan designed by the &chool Disaster 'anagement (ommittee. The Main Concern !rin" an on"oin" #ha$in" i# Ho% &o 'ro&ec& One#e() ". )hat to do during an earthquake * In&ro !ce !c$+ co,er an ho( * Take cover under a sturdy table or strongly supported doorway * )atch out for falling ob ects * +eep calm and don,t panic #. )hat to do as soon as the shaking stops * -e alert * .isten to teacher,s instructions * )alk out of the classroom in an orderly manner * )hile walking along the corridors to the nearest e/it of the building, be alert and look out for falling debris. 0 DON-T R!n+ DON-T '!#h+ DON-T Ta($+ DON-T Re&!rn DON-T Brin" .o!r &hin"# Q!ie&(. /!& 0!ic$(., proceed to the designated evacuation area and wait for further instructions from the teacher. * Ne,er "o /ac$ to the building once you are outside. -uildings should be inspected by engineers for possible damage after an earthquake. &tudents should stay in the open area and wait for their parents1 guardians to pick them up. $. 2or the teacher, make sure all students are accounted for once they are in the designated evacuation area. 'HASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL

'ha#e 12 ALARM A pre* arranged signal or bell should be known to all. During the drill, the siren indicates earthquake or shaking . &tudents and teachers will be alerted by this signal 'ha#e 32 RES'ONSE )hile the siren or bell is ongoing, every one should move away from windows, glass or light fi/tures. In this phase, every one should perform 4 !c$+ co,er an ho( 3 under desks, tables or chairs. 4emain in this position until the 5shaking3 stops. 'ha#e 52 EVACUATION !nce the 5shaking3 stops , teachers and students should evacuate the school building and proceed to identified evacuation areas using pre* determined routes. At the designated evacuation area, students must be grouped together according to the class where they belong. 'ha#e 62 HEAD COUNT Teachers should check and make sure all students are accounted for. 'ha#e 72 EVALUATION An evaluation of the drill must be conducted to identify problems encountered during the drill and how this can be corrected in future earthquake drills. ACTUAL CONDUCT OF EARTHQUAKE DRILL ". 6rior to the scheduled drill, inform the neighborhood regarding the conduct of the drill.

#. Identify and assign observers for each e/it points of the building and evacuation areas. They will give their comments and observations during the evaluation drill. $. 2or the actual drill7 0 Assumptions7 " minute strong shaking signified by " minute siren or bell 6erson cannot stand -uilding may have been damaged but no collapse 6ossible falling ob ects including glass windows 8o immediate assistance will be available for at least several hours. &elf*help and sustenance are required. 6ossible in uries, fear, panic among students and teachers. 0 9ive instructions and reiterate the what to dos > !nce the siren or bell is heard, do the proper and e/pected actions 0 6articipants during this " minute siren should perform the duck, cover and hold > After the " minute siren, students quietly go out of the room and proceed to previously designated open space 0 Teacher should make head count while in the ground

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STA8E 1 9 'LANNIN8 : OR8ANI;IN8 TH EARTHQUAKE DRILL A2 For< a Schoo( Di#a#&er Mana"e<en& Co<<i&&ee =SDMC> composed of several teams with specific tasks and functions :e.g 2irst aid Team, &ite &ecurity,2ire*&afety Team, Evacuation Team,(ommunications Team; and designate an over all coordinator. Me</er# o) &he SDMC #ho!( e,a(!a&e &he #choo(: ". <ave the following informations available yearly= * total number of students, teachers and staff

* *

total number of students occupying each room, each floor, each building identify students and teachers with special needs and their location

#. Acquire the most recent school grounds lay out or plan1map. >se this to identify open spaces and determine the total area of available space that can be utili?ed as 5area o) re)!"e3 that will be designated for the occupants of each building. Determine how many persons can occupy this open space. :Is the space enough for the total number of students and teachers@; $. !btain a building lay out1 floor plan for each building that shows the room corridors, staircases and e/it points. :Is the width of the corridor wide enough to accommodate the flow of traffic during an emergency. B2 Me</er# o) &he SDMC should conduct building watching exercise and identify safe and unsafe spots inside the school grounds. This is necessary to stress the D!,s and D!8Ts. ". !bserve ha?ardous areas and practice within the school premises and dangerous conditions that may e/ist which people may have not noticed before. This should be plotted on the lay out. :e.g. Any hanging unstable ob ects or structure= condition of power lines and utility poles= narrow alleys between buildings, doors of classroom that swing in instead of swing out;. STA8E 3 9 DEVELO'IN8 THE SCHOOL EARTHQUAKE EVACUATION 'LAN After identifying the safe and unsafe spots, the ne/t step is to develop the &chool Earthquake Evacuation 6lan.

". The &chool Earthquake Evacuation 6lan should have provision to utili?e all available open spaces nearest the building that are evaluated as safe from falling debris and other materials that may cause in uries to students. #. Determine if there is sufficient open space for all. Areas to be occupied should be computed assuming % to A students would occupy a " sq. meter area $. (onsider the number of students in each building. Designate a specific open area for each class as their area of temporary refuge. %. <ave a map of the building and the location and put a legend A. !nce each class has been assigned a specific evacuation site, come up with evacuation procedure using the available map. Initially, all e/it points nearest the room of occupant should be suggested as e/it routes assuming that these are passable after the earthquake. B. Determine the flow of traffic from each room along the corridors using the information on actual number of occupants per room and their designated evacuation area. C. Indicate by arrows, the flow of student evacuation coming out of each room up to their designated evacuation site. This will be the suggested evacuation route for the students. D. 6repare the final evacuation route and orient all the teachers and school figure about this. E. 6repare earthquake survival kits :flashlights, battery, water rope, blankets, candle, matches , etc; "F. 6repare first aid kits STA8E 5? ORIENTATION 'RIOR TO THE CONDUCT OF EARTHQUAKE DRILL A. 6repare the students a week before the scheduled earthquake drill. 2or each class, instruct the homeroom adviser to do the following7 ". Allot a specific time for lecture on earthquakes G what it is, how and why they occur, what to do before, during and after an earthquake #. (onduct a classroom observation activity. *Draw floor plan of classroom :desks, teachers, table, cabinets, etc; *Identify the safe spots in the classroom :tables, desks,doors; *Identify danger ?ones : windows and glass, book shelves, machinery, hanging ob ects, etc;

*)hen dangerous areas in the classroom have been identified, ask the students what can be done to correct these and encourage them to take action toward correcting this. $. Introduce to the students the suggested evacuation route prepared by &D'(. %. Introduce to the students the assigned open area where they will evacuate after an earthquake A. Assign somebody who will be in charge of making sure the door is open during the shaking.

The <ain concern !rin" an on"oin" #ha$in" i# Ho% &o 'ro&ec& One#e() $. )hat to do during an earthquake * In&ro !ce !c$+ co,er an ho( * Take cover under a sturdy table or strongly supported doorway * )atch out for falling ob ects * +eep calm and don,t panic %. )hat to do as soon as the shaking stops * -e alert * .isten to teacher,s instructions * )alk out of the classroom in an orderly manner * )hile walking along the corridors to the nearest e/it of the building, be alert and look out for falling debris. 0 DON-T R!n+ DON-T '!#h+ DON-T Ta($+ DON-T Re&!rn DON-T Brin" .o!r &hin"# Q!ie&(. /!& 0!ic$(., proceed to the designated evacuation area and wait for further instructions from the teacher. * Ne,er "o /ac$ to the building once you are outside. -uildings should be inspected by engineers for possible damage after an earthquake. &tudents should stay in the open area and wait for their parents1 guardians to pick them up. $. 2or the teacher, make sure all students are accounted for once they are in the designated evacuation area. 'HASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL

'ha#e 12 ALARM A pre* arranged signal or bell should be known to all. During the drill, the siren indicates earthquake or shaking . &tudents and teachers will be alerted by this signal 'ha#e 32 RES'ONSE )hile the siren or bell is ongoing, every one should move away from windows, glass or light fi/tures. In this phase, every one should perform 4 !c$+ co,er an ho( 3 under desks, tables or chairs. 4emain in this position until the 5shaking3 stops. 'ha#e 52 EVACUATION !nce the 5shaking3 stops , teachers and students should evacuate the school building and proceed to identified evacuation areas using pre*determined routes. At the designated evacuation area, students must be grouped together according to the class where they belong. 'ha#e 62 HEAD COUNT Teachers should check and make sure all students are accounted for. 'ha#e 72 EVALUATION An evaluation of the drill must be conducted to identify problems encountered during the drill and how this can be corrected in future earthquake drills.

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STA8E @ ACTUAL CONDUCT OF EARTHQUAKE DRILL %. 6rior to the scheduled drill, inform the neighborhood regarding the conduct of the drill. A. Identify and assign observers for each e/it points of the building and evacuation areas. They will give their comments and observations during the evaluation drill.

B. 2or the actual drill7 0 Assumptions7 " minute strong shaking signified by " minute siren or bell 6erson cannot stand -uilding may have been damaged but no collapse 6ossible falling ob ects including glass windows 8o immediate assistance will be available for at least several hours. &elf*help and sustenance are required. 6ossible in uries, fear, panic among students and teachers. 0 9ive instructions and reiterate the what to dos > !nce the siren or bell is heard, do the proper and e/pected actions 0 6articipants during this " minute sire should perform the duck, cover and hold > After the " minute siren, students quietly go out of the room and proceed to previously designated open space 0 Teacher should make head count while in the ground

EVALUATION FORM 6rimer on 5<ow to (onduct an Earthquake Drill in &chool3 Dear &ir 1 'adam7 )e would like to request you to evaluate the effectiveness of the primer on 5<ow to (onduct Earthquake Drills in &chool3 in order to improve it further ". Are the instructions in the primer very clear@ If not, why@ HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #. which part of the primer is difficult to implement and why@ HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH $. In order to improve future drills, which part of these primer needs improvement@ HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH %. )hat do you think would be the other form of media that this primer be best represented@ E/ample7 6oster, I(D, (omics,

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Date 1 Time7 HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 6lace of drill 7 HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Drill Implementor 7 HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH