|
 The IloveUguys protocol was developed by
John-Michael and Ellen Keyes after tragedy struck their lives. The
couple’s daughter, Emily was one of seven high school girls held
hostage by a single gunman at Platte Canyon High School in 2006. As
a result, Emily was shot and killed.
As the girl was being held, she had time to send text messages to
her parents. Brief and to the point – “I love U guys.”
The couple turned their grief into a mission to do whatever they
were capable of doing to help protect young lives. Butterfield said
the two were not educators or psychologists, they were actually
‘computer people’ who had access to research tools that enabled them
to learn what was needed.
On their website the Keyes state, “At the inception of The "I Love U
Guys" Foundation, the focus was on the arena of school safety. The
question was simple, "Can we really help?" We attended symposiums,
conferences and events about school safety and did tons of research.
The Foundation hosted roundtables of its own, and also contracted an
Emergency Management Practitioner to jumpstart the learning curve
and make introductions. (Perhaps the best research investment we
have ever made).”
In January of 2009, John-Michael left his ‘day job’ and became fully
invested in moving the newly formed IloveUguys Foundation forward.
Through the work of John-Michael and Ellen Keyes, a large amount of
information has been compiled in one central location on the
internet and is available free of charge to schools throughout the
country. To date, every school in the states of Colorado and Texas
utilize the IloveUguys Standard Response Protocol, and it is also
gaining popularity throughout the country.
Within the foundation website, the public can read more about the
Standard Reunification Method (SRP), a simple and easy to understand
design for establishing a protocol for re-uniting families after
emergency situations.
The SRP includes procedures for “lockout,” “lockdown,” “Evacuate”
and “Shelter.” It defines when these procedures might be used; and
how students, facility and the public are to respond to the
designated protocol.
As an example, lockout is called when the threat to safety
lies outside the school building. This could be an intruder, a
weather condition, or a danger that exists close to the school.
Lockdown means that the threat exists inside the school. The
key points of a lockdown are to stay inside the classroom, out of
sight as best as possible. The teacher is to lock the door and turn
off the lights, and students and staff are to remain quiet. No one
is to unlock the door until law enforcement or a trusted school
official says to do so.
Evacuate means that children and staff are to leave the
building in an orderly fashion. Some key tips included in the
evacuate protocol is first BRING the cell phone, but leave
everything else behind, evacuate quietly and SHOW YOUR HANDS
(ie. no hands in pockets).
[to top of second column] |
Shelter will primarily be used during weather
or hazmat situations and the protocol to be followed will be the
hazard and safety strategies adopted by the school.
In all cases, one of the primary roles of the teacher
will be to grab student roll call sheets and make sure all students
are accounted for, and then follow the protocol steps according to
the scenario.
Butterfield said that the foundation offers many resources and,
while it was designed for the schools, it can be used in any
location where there are large gatherings, such as churches. He said
that he has started presenting the protocol at local churches and is
also looking into creating a power point style video that can be
played in public locations such as the local theater.
He added that, when he is ready to do this, he will work with the
school technology classes, and once they have a product it will be
sent to the foundation where it will be polished and formatted for
use, again free of charge.
We encourage everyone to check out the iloveUguys.org website and
read through all the information that is available, all free of
charge, to anyone who wishes to utilize it.
IloveUGuys.org -
http://iloveuguys.org/about_us.html
SRP symbols and quick guide for K12
http://iloveuguys.org/srp/SRP%20K12%20Student%20Parent%20Handout%20v2.pdf
SRP K12 – Operational Guidance for Schools, District, Departments
and Agencies
http://iloveuguys.org/srp/SRP%20K12%20Operation%20Guidelines%202015.pdf
|
