From lockdown to evacuation: Lincoln child care providers learn emergency protocols

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Less than four months into 2023, there have been more then 100 mass shootings in the U.S.

So it’s crucial to be prepared for emergencies.

Lincoln Littles, a nonprofit that advocates for children, has implemented an emergency notification system that’s the first of its kind in the nation.

It’s geared toward helping child care programs develop emergency strategies that are currently used in Lincoln Public Schools.

Here is how it works: Lincoln Littles gets a call from the Lincoln Police Department about an active threat in a specific area. Then Lincoln Littles notifies child care providers through a text alert system.

This emergency notification system started after Lincoln Police Investigator Mario Herrera was fatally shot in 2020.

“We had child care centers that were in very close proximity that had children on the playground playing. Those child care centers did not get notified that there was an emergency in the area,” said Suzanne Schneider of Lincoln Littles.

This week, Lincoln Littles and LPS held a two-hour training session to implement the safety techniques.

It focused on how to properly communicate with children in the case of an emergency. That includes anything from a weather event to a fire to an intruder.

“We needed to ensure they were age-appropriate lessons with clear language for younger children,” LPS spokeswoman Mindy Burbach said. “We do not say lockdown, for instance. We talk about practicing to play hide-and-go-seek. We do not say hold. We ask them to freeze – like in freeze tag.”

But the safety system doesn’t end there. The next part involves identifying safety protocols for various threat levels.

This process is called Standard Response Protocol.

There are five specific actions that can be performed during an incident: Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter and Hold, each followed by a directive such as “get inside” or “lock outside doors.”

“Depending upon what going on in the community, it could be a situation where they would just hold in place, basically they wouldn’t move from room to room,” said Lamekia Collier, the wellness and workforce navigator at Lincoln Littles.

Or if there is an immediate threat in the community, the building may go into secure status, with no visitors allowed.

If there’s an immediate danger on campus, “then they would actually lock down the building and they would get out of sight,” Collier said.

Providers also need to designate a place where children and staff will go in an evacuation.

Lincoln Littles said these annual trainings will help children stay safe by giving them the tools they need to react calmly and quickly in emergency situations.

Schneider said she is grateful to the partnerships that helped facilitate these emergency response trainings.

“The Lincoln Lancaster County Emergency Response Team has been critical in this work,” she said. “They paid for the training and supplied emergency radios, lanterns and emergency evacuation backpacks.”