I’m sorry...let me try again....with or without CAH, the staff needs to be in communication with fire/rescue/police, etc.  during an overnight lockdown.

We have two kinds of lockdown at our school:

1.  The crazed gunman scenario:  total lockdown with everybody staying inside the room they were presently in.  Doors are locked.  Nobody moves.  I’ve been in these lockdowns for practice and for a few situations where the police had to come to the school.  I work in the nurse’s office and I lock the door...the kids visiting the nurse at the time stay in the nurse’s office.   Kids needing to get meds have to wait until the crisis is over.  Remember that most schools have a "window" when they can give meds.  The order might say ’2:30’, but, realistically, this can be 2:15 to 2:45..some places even have an hour window.

2.  Overnight lockdown:  this is where there has been a nuclear bomb (or something equally horrendous) and everybody needs to stay in the school but not necessarily in the classroom.  Our nurse has a few kids assigned to go to the nurse’s office for an overnight lockdown.  CAH, diabetes, severe asthma, seizure kids, etc.  While no one is allowed in or out of the school, there is movement within the school.   We have food and water stored for the entire school and the special needs kids simply stay with the nurse until it’s over. 

Both of these scenarios require constant communication with local emergency personnel.  This should be the responsibility of the principal and/or assist principal with input from the nurse.  Our school has a special committee formed (with the prin, nurse, guidance counsellor, a few other staff), and they meet regularly to go over emergency procedure.   If a problem arose during an overnight lockdown where a student needed transportation to a hospital, they would handle it appropriately.

We’ve also practiced an evacuation involving removing all students/staff at least 500 feet from the school.    In this case, classes stay together (much like a fire drill), except the special needs students (cah, diabetes, etc.) are escorted to a  particular area where the medical personnel will gather (fire, EMT, police).  The med cart is taken along with the student’s various emergency meds.