Putnam County Emergency Management and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office are visiting schools across the county this week to practice emergency drills.
The drills covered severe weather, fire, and intruder scenarios. EMA Director Brandon Smith said the drills this week have gone well.
“We always have good conversations with our administrators and with our schools,” Smith said. “And the students always just do an incredible job. Students in Putnam County Schools are really good at following instructions, and during the times when we do these exercises and the drill test, they just do a fantastic job.”
Smith said the district-wide safety team tries to run a full set of drills with each school at least twice a year. Smith said practicing the drills can better prepare students and teachers for emergency situations.
“There are many different hazards out there in the world, and we have to be prepared for those,” Smith said. “So this is a good chance for us to test that. This is a good chance for us to communicate face-to-face with each other, and a really good opportunity for our public safety partners and leaders to get in the same room with principals and teachers and just be able to have that open dialogue. During any type of emergency or crisis, relationships are the things that get you through and have the best outcomes. So having those relationships on a first-name basis is really one of the best things that comes from this drill as well.”
Many people remember practicing drills in school when they were younger. Smith said today’s drills are similar to the drills that were used 20-30 years ago.
“The basic premise is the same,” Smith said. “If the risk is outside the building, get further inside the building, if the risk is inside the building, try to get out of the building,” Smith said. “So the premise is the same, though some of the tactics may have changed, some of the things that we can do in response to whatever the different risk has changed, but the feel is very much the same.”
Smith said Emergency Management and the Sheriff’s Office will wrap up drill training across the school district on Friday. Smith said safety goes beyond this week, as emergency agencies always continue conversations with the School Resource Officers at each school.
