Disaster Management Measures Adopted at Schools in Alexandria

The concept of school safety is not limited to preventing the collapse of school buildingsin disasters, and safety of teachers and students, but rather extends to meet the broader goal“disaster risk management”. Objective: The present study aimed to assess the disastermanagement measures adopted at schools in Alexandria, and to identify knowledge andpractice of disaster and crisis committee members about school disaster and crisismanagement plan and it s measures. Setting: Twenty one governmental schools affiliated toMinistry of education in Alexandria Governorate were included in the study. Subjects: Thestudy comprised210 members of the selected schools disaster and crisis committees. Tools:Three tools were utilized for data collection; Socio demographic characteristics and schoolrecord review for disaster management plan questionnaire, knowledge of committee membersrelated to disaster management plan questionnaire and committee member’s practices relatedto disaster management questionnaire. Results: The study revealed that all assessed schoolshad disaster and crisis management plan, the majority of the members of the crisis anddisaster committee were not oriented with its content, never dealt with any emergency, neverchecked on the emergency equipment placed, and most significantly, the available plans werenot suitable in different emergency situations. Conclusion: It could be concluded that allassessed schools had disaster and crisis management plan. The majority of the study sampleobtained unsatisfactory score for their knowledge and practice related to disaster anddisaster management. The low score reflects deficiencies in all assessed aspects ofinformation; lack of knowledge, lack of training and absence of motivation.Recommendations: A comprehensive standardized national preventive strategies forachieved safety measures in schools should be developed and implemented.