On California’s central coast we deal with earthquakes. It is not uncommon for our class to be disrupted by a little tremor once or twice a month. Fortunately they do not get very big but we have to be prepared for a big one. Once a month we go over our earthquake drill. The bell rings and all the children drop to the ground and crawl under their desks. Once the bell stops we head out the door in a line. The first person out takes the emergency backpack and the last person scans the room for people before leaving. Our meeting spot (if anyone gets separated) is always the same. We meet out at the base ball diamond. Once there I go over my roll sheet to make sure everyone is present. Once everyone is accounted for we check for injuries.
If this were a real earthquake and someone was indeed injured we have our emergency pack stocked with every thing we need. There are gloves, band aides, gauze, splint, flashlight, emergency cards with parents and child"s info, and water. As soon as we are safe and accounted for we would start to call parents. If able to. Our goal is to keep each child safe and calm. We also ask our families to practice drills at home with their children and also talk to them so that if an emergency does occur the children know what is expected and are less likely to be scared and confused.
We do the same for fire drills. Once a month we meet. Our meeting spot is the same. The only real difference is that instead of going under our desks we drop and crawl to the door. Once outside we line up and head to the diamond where we take roll. Where we live environmentally fires and earthquakes are our only real threats. I think we are prepared for a disaster. I feel that we have prepared our children to act appropriately in those situations as well.