(Shenandoah) -- From hurricanes in Florida, to earthquakes in California, to mass shooting incidents in Texas, disasters can strike anywhere.
Not even Shenandoah is immune to "the unthinkable." That's why the Shenandoah School District joined local law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel in a mock disaster drill Friday afternoon. Shenandoah School Superintendent Dr. Kerri Nelson tells KMA News students and staff at both the JK-8 Building and Shenandoah High School were evacuated in accordance with the district's emergency operations protocol, and walked to a rendezvous point at a remote location.
"We didn't go through all the steps we could have done," said Nelson. "Today, we focused on the one elementary of we need to evacuate. If there was an active shooter, if there was some kind of event that required us to evacuate, if was unsafe, we needed to relocate quickly, these are the procedures we would take. So, we focused in on notifying the proper authorities, notifying each other and communicating the steps that we would take to evacuate all of our campuses."
Friday's drill was different from previous exercises, in that Shenandoah Police, the Page County Sheriff's Office, the Shenandoah Fire Department and Shenandoah EMS participated in the drill.
"The first drill is about teaching kids location and protocol procedures," said Nelson. "The second drill is about reinforcing those procedures, but then including the people who would actually be responding in the event of an emergency."
While it was only a simulated emergency, Nelson says the situation was intense at times for some students and staff.
"Our students responded exceptionally well," she said. "But, we did have a couple of students get emotional--and it's normal that that happens. We had a few staff members where you could see their anxiety level was higher than normal. But, that's part of the process, and that's why we train, and that's why we need to include those first responders, because they're a natural part of the process, and we need their support."
Overall, the superintendent says she's pleased with the exercise's outcome.
"Every time we do one, we realize the 50 things we haven't thought of," said Nelson, "the things we need to get better at, the things we need to do a little bit different. As we were communicating with each other, we were all making mental notes, and starting to connect with each other about next time, what do we do different."
She adds school officials and participating agencies will conduct a debriefing session to evaluate the drill, and to determine any changes necessary in the district's emergency procedures.
