School Capabilities & Hazards, Critical & Essential Operations

This section of the Emergency Operations Plan provides for the gathering of information about current capabilities and possible hazards and emergencies that a district may experience. In the first column of the chart, list all emergencies that could affect your facility.

Click here to view an Example »

Probability: In the probability column, rate the likelihood of each emergency's occurrence. This is a subjective consideration, but useful nonetheless.

Human Impact: Analyze the potential human impact of the emergency; for example, what is the probability of serious injury occurring? Assign a rating in the Human Impact column of the Vulnerability Assessment Chart using a one-to-five rating system.

Environmental Impact: Consider the impact to the environment based on hazards identified through your vulnerability assessment. (e.g.; hazardous materials, asbestos, etc.)

Property Impact: Consider the potential property for losses and damages. Assign a one-to-five rating in the Property Impact column. Things to consider:

  1. Cost to replace
  2. Cost to set up temporary replacement
  3. Cost to repair

School Operations Impact: Assign a one-to-five rating in the School Operations Impact column. Assess the impact of:

  1. School interruption
  2. Employees unable to report to work
  3. Students unable to report to schools
  4. Interruption of critical supplies

Internal and External Resources: assess resources and ability to respond. Assign a score to internal and external resources. Consider each potential emergency from beginning to end and each resource that would be needed to respond. Things to consider:

  1. Do we have the needed resources and capabilities to respond?
  2. Will external resources be able to respond during this emergency as quickly as we may need them or will they have other areas to serve; or do we develop additional emergency procedures?
  3. Memorandums of Understanding

Examine each of the possible disruptions in the Vulnerability Assessment Chart. Add the lines across and total them. Rank them in order from the highest to the lowest. This will give a priority list to plan for these disruptions. It is important to give equal consideration to the vulnerabilities that did not rate very high because they still have a possibility of occurring.

Response and Recovery Strategy: The next step in the process is development of a response/recovery strategy based on the Vulnerability Assessment Chart. Examples of response activities include: notification of team members, protective measures, evacuation, and search and rescue. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the response phase ends and the recovery phase begins. Generally, recovery begins when the situation starts to stabilize, sometimes following the response phase and often times overlapping it.

The following is an example of a time-phase approach to implementing response and recovery activities.

This list is not inclusive, and the steps are not necessarily sequential, but it should provide a basic template of the process necessary to complete this portion of the Emergency Operations Plan.

Sample Vulnerability Assessment Charts

PDF Icon Vulnerability Assessment Chart 1
PDF Icon Vulnerability Assessment Chart 2