OMS Evaluates Emergency Plans

Oskaloosa Middle School students evacuate the building during a fire drill on Friday

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Practice makes perfect and keeping kids safe is the ultimate goal for school administration.

On Friday members of the Oskaloosa Fire Department, Mahaska County Emergency Management, and the Oskaloosa Police Department gathered at the Oskaloosa Middle School to watch and evaluate the school’s fire and tornado drill procedures.

Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson said that they evaluated the old system for fire and tornado. “We came up with some new ways, some safer, faster ways to get people where they need to be. After seeing it in motion I think it went well and I think it’s a plan we can stick with and grow with.”

Greg McCaulley had contacted Robinson about helping to evaluate and develop safety plans as needed. “There are some things we can approve upon,” and Robinson says they have already been discussing how to improve those areas.

One of those areas might be making sure there are proper fire lanes for emergency vehicles, but that need will be evaluated before changes are implemented.

Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff agreed that the fire drill went well. “There’s some areas that need improvement, but overall it went well.” He said that there was an orderly exit of the building.

Middle School Principal Andy Hotek agrees that the drills went well. “Really pleased.” “We saw some things we need to change.”

Hotek said that after changing the whole tornado drill, Friday helped them see what needed to be changed in order to fine tune the evacuation plans. “There was a couple of bottle necks that we want to approach differently.”

Hotek was very appreciative of the emergency workers for taking the time to come out and help evaluate the plans with the school.

The students were able to evacuate the building in about a minute and a half from the moment the alarm sounded.

“One of the things we learned with the tornado drill is we may not have that much time.” Hotek said that “It’s critical, we may not have that much time. The alarm goes off. We recognize what it is. When we set off the tornado alarm, we need to hustle. We’ve got to get these kids safe and out of the hallways.”

So, with that, new routes were developed for the tornado drill that should help speed up getting kids to safety, and that’s the whole reason for holding drills like they did.

Hotek said that since the destructive tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, schools have been evaluating their plans, and even the design of schools have been changing from the knowledge learned from that storm.