Provide and maintain emergency supplies (such as first aid equipment, posted signs, and communication equipment) in identified, predetermined locations, including in all buildings and buses. Emergency supplies should also be available at all indoor and outdoor school-sponsored events.

Emergencies can occur at any time or at any place, and supplies need to be available to treat less severe injuries and to stabilize more severe injuries until appropriate help arrives.

The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics together with Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C) have created Emergency Guidelines for Schools that include recommended first aid supplies (80). Ensure that supplies are accessible and inspected at least monthly and re-supplied after each use. Written guidelines should identify members of the staff responsible for inspecting and maintaining emergency equipment as well as those who are trained in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Epinephrine injector pens, gloves, and other supplies should be included. Automated External Defribrillators (AEDs) have electric paddles to resuscitate a person with cardiac arrest. Because of the low mean age of students and staff, these devices are required on fewer occasions per capita in schools as compared to many other settings. But when AEDs have been available in schools, they have successfully saved lives and so they may also be considered as desired emergency equipment for the school environment.

Special emergency equipment required for any student with a special health care need must also be accessible and in ample supply (e.g., glucagon for students with diabetes). Schools need to be prepared for emergencies on campus and at all school-sponsored events (e.g., field trips, sporting events, and outdoor education). Therefore, equipment should include some means of communicating rapidly if emergency medical services are needed (e.g., walkie-talkies, telephones). Emergency assistance numbers should be posted in strategic places (e.g., near telephones). Poison control and emergency assistance numbers are 800-222-1222 and 911, respectively.

American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on School Health. Guidelines for emergency medical care in school. Pediatrics. 2001;107:435-436.

National Association of School Nurses. Position Statement: School Nurse Role in Emergency Preparedness. Scarborough, ME: National Association of School Nurses; 2001. Available at: http://www.nasn.org/positions/emergencyprep.htm.

Passarelli C. Are you prepared for an emergency? J Sch Nurs. 1995;11:4, 6.

US Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities, Washington, D.C., 2003. Available at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSDFS/emergencyplan/crisisplanning.pdf.