Having emergency kits in schools and individual classrooms are lifesavers. In an emergency, such as a school shooting or natural disaster, being prepared with the right supplies can make all the difference for student first-aid, health, comfort, and safety. Here’s why emergency kits are critical:

• They offer quick and immediate intervention or help.
• Necessary supplies are within arm’s reach, not across the school, which is critical when time is of the essence.
• They empower teachers and staff to act as first responders until the authorities arrive.

Emergencies that demand these kits include:

• Natural Disasters- storms, earthquakes, etc…
• School Shootings/ Active Shooter situations
• Accidents
• School Violence and Fights
• Medical Emergencies among students and staff

Building an emergency kit tailored for your school’s students and staff means that you can be prepared to take action in the event of these scenarios and more. This guide can outline determining your school’s needs and which supplies are most essential.

What Should Go Into School Emergency Kits?

Creating a school safety kit is more than just a one-size-fits-all task. Each school has unique needs based on its location, size, and the community it serves. Here, we outline key considerations and categories for building a safety kit that meets your school’s requirements.

Essential Supplies for Every School Emergency Kit

Despite the need for customization, certain items are a universal necessity in a standard emergency kit. These essentials form the backbone of your preparedness efforts and will support nearly any disaster your school and students face.

• First Aid Supplies: Bandages, antiseptics, scissors, and gloves. Always start here, with a large quantity that is rationed and packaged for each classroom. 
• Water and Non-Perishable Food: Enough for at least 72 hours. In the event of a water line malfunction or contamination, students will need plenty of access to water to stay properly hydrated.  Non-perishable, packaged foods should also be available during a crisis. A strong food supply includes calorie-dense snacks like peanut butter, nuts, and trail mix.
• Communication Tools: Whistles, two-way radios, student rosters, and a list of emergency contacts. These items will assist in search and rescue efforts when locating people during a chaotic situation. The rosters and contact information will help to account for each person and allow for quick communication between students’ family members.
• Light and Warmth: Flashlights, extra batteries, and emergency blankets. Having enough light will help everyone feel safe and oriented and will also assist in locating other emergency supplies.

Evaluate Your School’s Specific Risks

Before stocking up on supplies, take a step back. Assess your school’s specific risks and threats. This process is critical because it ensures that your resources are dedicated to the most practical and relevant possibilities. A thorough assessment ensures that your emergency kit addresses the real dangers your school might face.

• Geographic Considerations: Is your school in an area prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes? Is your school located near water or in a flood zone? Is your school built on, near, or at the bottom of a mountain? What kind of radio and cell reception is there? How much space is there around and within the school campus? All these considerations could affect the likelihood of disaster and impact rescue efforts.
• Community Context: Consider local challenges. Is the school in a high-crime area? What is the context of crime and violence in the school community, and what statistics are there about crime involving firearms?  Is your school near an industrial area, and do any nearby factories pose a risk? What health risks are prevalent in the community? Is your school and the surroundings congested and very close to roads and infrastructure?
• School Characteristics: Large schools may face different challenges than small ones – The age range of students is significant, too, because it can point to the types of emergencies that the school is most likely to face. Is there a type of allergy or ailment common among students at the school site? Is there a culture of conflict and violence at your school, and how well is it managed? How would the students at your school react to different types of emergencies, and which ones are they prepared for?

Tailor Your Kit to Specific Needs

With all the basics in place, it’s time to tailor your school’s emergency kit with supplies are specific to the needs of your school. This is where your earlier risk assessment pays off.

• For Natural/Geographical Disasters: Include sturdy shoes and dust masks.
• For Medical Emergencies: Stock up on specific medications, asthma inhalers, or EpiPens with proper storage and rotation plans. A procedure should be in place to ensure that there is a master list of student allergies, health conditions, and medications with their expiration dates.

Don’t Forget Mental Health and Comfort

Emergencies are stressful. Including items to support mental health and provide comfort is just as important as the practical supplies.

• Comfort Items: Kids will feel safe if they are distracted with familiar items like stuffed animals, books to read, or games.
• Stress Relief: Stress balls, coloring books, or calming music for older students and adults.

Training and Knowledge

The best kit in the world is only as good as those using it. Training your staff and students on how to use the contents in the emergency kit is crucial.

Regular Drills: Practice emergency scenarios to build confidence and familiarity.

• Students and staff should have consistent practice doing emergency drills: where and how to exit a building, where and how to implement a lockdown, how to identify different sounds and alarms during an emergency, and where to find the emergency supplies.

First Aid Training:

•  Ensure that several staff members have CPR certifications. Staff should also be trained in first-aid, medication distribution, EpiPen administration, and what to do in the case of a seizure or cardiac event.

Assessing and understanding your school’s unique challenges is the the first step to building a school safety kit. From there, stocking up on essential supplies, customizing for specific needs, and incorporating comfort and training ensures you’re prepared for almost anything. This approach affirms that when an emergency strikes, your school is ready to survive and thrive in the face of adversity.

How is the TruTrauma SOS Kit different from a Survival Kit?

Students and staff must understand the specific function of the contents of their emergency kit.

Clear-Armor is also a leading provider of life safety, critical skills, and crisis training. Our TruTrauma course instructors will partner with school leaders to 1) establish a tailored emergency response plan and 2) complete crisis training and certification with your staff.

Businesses and organizations participating in our critical life incident course receive our TruTrauma SOS Kit upon completing their training. Our trauma kit offers all the necessary components to potentially save a life and provide essential life support until medical help arrives.

The TruTrauma SOS Kit provides the tools necessary to administer an immediate medical response in a school emergency or crisis event. This kit is different from a standard survival kit in several ways:

• Specialization for Trauma: The TruTrauma SOS Kit is specialized. It includes emergency supplies and items intended for severe medical situations. Unlike standard survival kits, the TruTrauma emergency kit has tools for rapid trauma response, such as tourniquets, trauma pads, and hemostatic agents.
• Concentration on Hemorrhage Control: Bleeding control is a central component of the TruTrauma SOS Kit. Items like BleedStop packets and CELOX Rapid Ribbon are products that will stop bleeding quickly, which buys critical time until emergency responders and paramedics arrive.
• Compact and Focused Inventory: Unlike a standard survival kit’s more extensive inventory, which can include bulky items like aid water, the TruTrauma Kit is designed to be compact. The compact nature of the TruTrauma SOS kit makes it practical to distribute in large numbers, like to each classroom or building. The compact design also makes it suitable for quick grabs and fast action – an essential for students and staff during an unforeseen and sudden school emergency.

When you consider how many school shootings happen in America and the number of casualties that have resulted from these tragic events, it’s clear that the TruTrauma kit can save lives by providing the training and supplies necessary to administer trauma care and rapid medical response. Its contents specifically address the critical moments following an injury, ensuring students and staff have prompt access to lifesaving interventions.

The TruTrauma Kit is a specialized resource that augments the supply range in standard survival kits. This investment is about buying critical time and investing in emergency preparedness.

Why Should Schools Get the TruTrauma SOS Kit?

School emergencies require swift, decisive action. The TruTrauma Kit is perfectly designed for precisely that. Here’s why every school should have one:

Specialized inventory: The TruTrauma SOS kit isn’t a generic bundle of first aid supplies; it includes life-saving tools for nearly any level of emergency or disaster that occurs.

Lifesaving: In emergencies like school shootings, minutes matter. The TruTrauma Emergency Kit has the supplies that enable you to act fast. It includes a bleeding control kit that can stop bleeding until emergency responders arrive and can tend to victims. The TruTrauma Kit even consists of the Vented Chest Seal, which saved the life of a school shooting gunshot victim here in the U.S. This student had three gunshot wounds to her chest and could have easily been a fatality, but fast-acting teachers used a Vented Chest Seal to mitigate the bleeding and stabilize her until emergency responders arrived. She was carried out of the school to safety and eventually recovered.

Proactive Preparedness: Preparing for a disaster means having the right tools at the right time. The TruTrauma kit is that tool- items are color-coded to help people use the emergency kit effectively, even when adrenaline and emotions run high.

Built for trauma. Disaster and emergency aid kits must be have the supplies necessary to handle the worst-case scenario. The TruTrauma Kit’s components are specialized to tend to severe injuries. In the event of a school shooting or similar emergency, the TruTrauma kit is complete and far more advanced than a first aid kit.

Safe for Lockdowns: During a lockdown, students and staff must stay in a secure area, still and quiet. When emergency supplies are needed, they should be available on the spot- without needing to look around for various items. The TruTrauma Kit provides precisely that- In some ways, you can call it a “lockdown kit.”

Safety is a Necessity: Keeping students and staff safe is a school’s most basic duty. Just like schools must provide other health and safety supplies- toiletries, first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, fire alarms, clean water, etc.-they must also provide additional layers of safety and preparedness for life-and-death situations.

The somber reality and frequency of school shooting events is worrisome.The TruTrauma Kit is a practical acknowledgement of this reality, providing a tangible tool that schools can have on hand to be ready- rather than be caught unprepared. The TruTrauma Kit invests in safety and reassurance for students, staff, families, and the wider school community. We recommend reading 3 Steps to Create and Implement a School Safety Plan for more information.

Crisis Training: How to Make the Most of School Emergency Kits

When an urgent situation unfolds in a school, the difference between chaos and managed response can hinge on the level of preparedness of the staff and students. Comprehensive crisis training programs, like the TruTrauma course, equip your staff with the skills and knowledge to effectively deploy a school emergency kit quickly- because when seconds count, each second is a life.

Here are five ways in which crisis training can help you make the most of your school emergency kits:

1. Hyper-realistic Training: Engage in training that brings emergency scenarios to life. This immersive approach ensures that each person understands the role of every item within the emergency kit, from bleeding control kits to communication devices.
2. Empowerment Through Practice: Regular drills convert theoretical knowledge into practical skills. Schools that integrate this training foster a community where teachers and students are not just educated but adept at applying their knowledge, especially when using aid kits in an emergency.
3. Building a Culture of Safety: Proper training can transform the campus environment. The entire school becomes a safer space by preparing classrooms with the necessary items and the know-how to use them. Staff and students don’t just feel secure; they are an active part of the security framework.
4. Ensuring Continued Support: Our approach doesn’t end at instruction. We provide ongoing support to ensure that schools remain at the forefront of emergency preparedness, with recommendations to keep emergency supplies updated and ready for use.
5. The Power of Communication: In times of crisis, effective communication is as critical as emergency supplies. Our training emphasizes clear, calm interaction, ensuring every message is precise and actionable during a chaotic event.

By embracing these training services, schools place themselves at the forefront of emergency preparedness. It’s not just about having the kits; training ensures that every teacher, every staff member, and every student knows how to use the kit. Critical incident training strives to transform any school emergency from a test of survival to a demonstration of resilience.

How Can My School Get Crisis Training and Tru-Trauma Kits?

Clear-Armor makes getting crisis training and TruTrauma Kits for your school straightforward. Our approach boosts your school’s defenses against mass shooters with bullet-resistant laminates and ensures your environment remains open and welcoming.

TruTrauma crisis training with installation of at least 2,500 sq. ft. of Clear-Armor ballistic glass laminate for your buildings—an investment that would safeguard about two or three schools in a district.

TruTrauma is a game-changing program. First, Clear-Armor delivers a thorough building assessment, focusing on the building’s interior and exterior glass—the most vulnerable part of your building—and how our product can provide a protective barrier for students and staff inside. Then, we work with leadership to enhance your school’s existing emergency protocol. Finally, we train your staff with our TruTrauma critical life incident course. The objective is to equip the staff with life-saving first aid skills, which are crucial in the vital moments before help arrives.

Who benefits from TruTrauma crisis training and SOS kits?

Anyone who works in a facility that wants to ensure their preparedness for a crisis would benefit from TruTrauma.  Our training also offers continuing education credits in some states, recognizing the value and importance of the skills learned.

Our training stands out because it’s hyper-realistic. We don’t just talk about theory; we simulate actual crisis conditions. This method is vital to preparing your team to handle the intense stress of actual emergencies and respond effectively.

The duration of the training is tailored to your school’s needs, ranging from a concise three-hour session to an extensive two-day program. Our goal is always the same: to leave your team ready and confident to take action.

Upon completion, participants walk away with knowledge and official certification in STOP THE BLEED® and TruTrauma, formally acknowledging your school’s preparedness. We recommend an annual refresher to keep these critical skills sharp, ensuring your school’s response strategies stay current and effective.

Clear-Armor is your partner in turning your school into a strong, impenetrable safe haven, ready for any eventuality while maintaining the inviting aesthetic of your facility. TruTrauma training SOS kit will empower your staff to be confident and capable to stand strong in the face of crisis.