Students often overlook the adults who know the protocols to ensure out safety. First responders, security guards and nurses are educated on how to assist us when an emergency arises. These situations can range from minor student misconduct to life-treating issues such as seizures.

Chemistry Teacher Jeremy Grube is one of the first responders at east. The role of a first responder is to deal with any kind of medical emergency when a teacher, staff member or security guard contacts them.

“So as a first responder, my job is to essentially respond to emergencies, any kind of medical emergency that may happen on campus, whether that’s a teacher that calls the office, a security guard notifies me, one of these assistants in the office calls me into my room and asked me to respond to a particular classroom,” Grube said.

They could deal with dislocated joints or diabetic emergencies. When dealing with a situation, there’s a normal response and an emergency action plan. For a normal response, the first responder is unsure of what help the person will need until they go and assess the situation. An emergency action plan comes after examining the scene and confirming that EMS (Emergency Medical Services) will need to take over.

First responders receive basic medical training, such as CPR and first aid. School nurses such as Alisa Cooper primarily handle medical emergencies when they arise. The nurses have walkie-talkies to communicate with the first responders and remain on standby.

“[In a] medical emergency, I’m the one in charge of the situation here at school. I would handle that student and direct others who respond on what to do,” Cooper said.

Since East has students with a variety of medical conditions, situations where the nurses need to assist can vary. It can be anything from dealing with an allergic or anaphylactic reaction, a seizure or a student who has passed out.

Nurse Cooper said the most common situations they have to handle are allergic reactions and seizures. To help a student during a seizure, they try to make the environment as safe as possible. If a student is sitting in a chair, they will be brought to a more level surface and are continuously monitored because it’s possible for the student to injure themselves or stop breathing.

First responders and nurses typically collaborate to combat medical emergencies. The security guards typically handle fire drills, safety issues concerning phones and student misconduct. Along with these issues, they also ensure unauthorized personnel can’t enter the building. In the event of an emergency, the first thing security guards do is get in touch with the other emergency personnel.

“[First we] make sure we contact the proper authorities. If it’s an emergency issue, we make sure we contact 911. After that, we contact the proper administrators [as well as the principal] to handle those situations,” an anonymous security guard said. When a student is doing something they aren’t supposed to, security guards have to call administration because they aren’t allowed to conduct searches.

When any of the emergency responders is dealing with a situation, there’s always communication occurring. All the security guards are connected with one another and can contact a teacher at any time. Teachers and first responders can also get in touch with the nurse when needed. The first step for almost every situation is contact.

Depending on what’s going on, different people will be required to lend a hand. At East, whether you’ve got a headache or a broken arm, you’ll always be in good hands.