Who is on first?
The school year is just underway and already the national and international news has called out a few failures in prevention.
"ALEXA told me this morning that PREVENTION means the act of stopping something from happening or effectively hindering it. I asked three time just to be certain!
I then asked her what INTERVENTION means. She said it is the act of stepping in or interferring in to change a situation, often to improve it, or prevent worsening.
PREVENTION is proactive per ALEXA and INTERVENTION is reactive. One is stepping in before, like safety drills, the other involves deployment of resources.
It appears ALEXA and I agree on the definitions.
She compared the two but asked me if I wanted more information on how it applies to healthcare ( with a slant to vaccines?), education and safety. So I asked about school safety.
Prevention in school safety she said again is proactive. She mentioned, among other things, a trained staff to see warning signs and physical steps like locked doors, behavior programs and regular threat assessment. In the key ingredients she also mentioned community and a supportive school environment for students to report. I would add a safe community environment for teachers to report.
Intervention in school safety per ALEXA involves clear crisis plan, immediate lockdown protocols, counseling, rapid response, securing school doors, and restoring normalcy. These items are not in order and are not exclusive.
There is overlap in prevention and intervention. But prevention does not include rescue and recovery, intervention does.
ALEXA advised, when asked about the most important PREVENTION part of school safety, that it involves staff and students in communicating! She then advised that the "cornerstone" in INTERVENTION is rapid threat assessment that kicks off the school protocol.
So far, one teacher stabbed in a school in Virginia, a school shooting in the Philippines (second in less than two months) and a college that said all clear but later found a suspect hidng in a dorm closet.
Next up Rescue and Recovery.
Does ALEXA know more than you?
ASK about your school at your school!
Asking saves kids.
Marian R. Carlino
Augustc18. 20026