District Safety

Emergencies in schools are paramount issues that must be addressed in an expeditious and effective manner.  Districts are required to develop a district wide school safety plan designed to prevent and minimize the effects of serious incidents and emergencies and facilitate the coordination of the district with local and county resources in the event of such incidents and emergencies.  The district wide plan is responsive to the needs of all schools within the district and is consistent with the more detailed emergency school plans required at the building level.  Districts stand the risk from a wide variety of acts of violence, natural and man made disasters.  To address these threats, the State of New York has enacted the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) law. Project SAVE is a comprehensive planning effort that addresses prevention, response and recovery with respect to a variety of emergencies in schools. Dutchess County BOCES in coordination with the Pine Plains Central School District, supports the SAVE legislation, and intends to facilitate the planning process.  The Superintendent of Schools encourages and advocates on-going district wide cooperation and support of project SAVE.

PROPOSED DRAFT

PINE PLAINS CSD DISTRICT-WIDE SAFETY PLAN 2025-26
SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST PREPAREDNESS -
CARDIAC EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN (CERP) ANNEX

Purpose

In compliance with Education Law §2801-a(n) (Desha’s Law) and Public Health Law §917, Pine Plains Central School District has established a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) to ensure a prompt, coordinated, and effective response to incidents of sudden cardiac arrest or similar life-threatening emergencies occurring on any school site or at any school-sponsored event, including athletic programs.  This section provides the district-wide framework for cardiac emergency preparedness and response, to be supplemented by building-specific CERP annexes within each Building-Level Emergency Response Plan (ERP). Building-level annexes must include venue-specific response protocols for all athletic facilities and off-site events, identifying AED locations, access routes, and trained personnel coverage.

Policy Statement

Pine Plains Central School District will maintain a district-wide CERP aligned with the American Heart Association’s (AHA) evidence-based core elements. The plan shall be reviewed annually by the Pine Plains Central School District Safety Team and approved by the Board of Education. Each building shall develop and maintain a venue-specific CERP annex that conforms to the standards established in this section and follows the NYSED functional annex format requirements for Building-Level Emergency Response Plans.

Core Components

§  Cardiac Emergency Response Team (CERT): A minimum of 5 trained responders or 10% of building staff, whichever is greater. Roles may include CPR provider, AED retriever, 911 caller, EMS liaison, and crowd control.

§  CPR/AED Training Requirements: The district-wide safety team may provide first aid, CPR, and AED training for relevant staff, including members of the building-level emergency response teams.

§  AED Placement and Maintenance: AEDs located to allow retrieval and deployment within 3 minutes for any location on campus; clearly marked, unlocked during events, maintained per manufacturer guideline; maintenance and inspection logs kept at each building by the building school nurse.

§  Communication Protocols:  Internal CERT activation and role assignments: External, immediate EMS activation (call 911) and coordination with responding agencies. 

§  Practice Drills:  At least one annual CERP drill per building, including AED retrieval and CPR initiation and measurement of time from collapse recognition to AED application, with a goal of 3 minutes or less; drill reviews documented in after-action reports.

§  Continuous Improvement:  Annual review of the plan and post-incident/debrief updates to procedures. An after-action report will be completed within 24 hours of any cardiac emergency or drill and forwarded to the district safety team for review and follow-up actions.

EMS Coordination

The Pine Plains Central School District Safety Team and building administrators will coordinate with local EMS to integrate CERP procedures into community responder protocols, including site orientation and AED location information.  This coordination will occur at least annually and will include sharing updated AED maps, site access points, and any changes in CERT composition or building layout.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

CPR/AED training records will be maintained by the District Office. AED maintenance records will be maintained by the Director of Health and Physical Education. Drill and incident documentation will be retained by the building administrator and forward to the District Safety Team.