Evaluation of school emergency drills

According to education code, schools must routinely conduct simulated exercises or drills. Drills test emergency management and response skills and “put into action” school emergency plans and protocols. However, no agency routinely monitors or evaluates the effectiveness of drills in improving emergency preparedness. To measure the frequency and to describe the quality of drills, this mixed methods study was conducted in two school districts in South Los Angeles. Analyses of 2005-06 drill reports indicate that drills are indeed held, but not on a regular basis. In one school district, two of thirteen elementary schools and one of three high schools did not practice drills during one school year. About 2/3 of exercises were fire drills, and about 4% were lockdown drills designed to practice response to violence. Yet, staff, who participated in focus groups or interviews, identify school and community violence as the most probable emergency in their community. While staff identify drills as their primary learning tool, many report a lackadaisical attitude towards drilling. Students and staff ”march out like little tin soldiers...(which is) all very phony.” During real-time drill observations, we also identified obstacles to communication, difficulties in managing student behavior and equipment failures. Students, in some instances, did not follow instructions, and some teachers and their classrooms chose not participate in the drills. Suggestions to improve these simulated exercises include conducting better self-evaluation of drills and creating disaster preparedness curriculum to accompany ongoing drills focused on specific areas of response (e.g., evacuation, student tracking, communication).