Featherstone Elementary has a Crisis Management Plan. Should an incident arise and there is a need for the evacuation of the school, the evacuation point will be Cokesbury UMC. Most of the information deals with establishing teams, command structure, and responsibilities are already in place.  Members of Cokesbury UMC might find themselves in a position as to where they will be consoling children, family members, and faculty. The church pastor and Church Secretary may need assistance. Respond to the church with a giving heart and be prepared to answer the assignments designated by the pastor.

School Command Post
In such instance, Cokesbury UMC is designated as the primary command post. Our Church will be utilized by the School Faculty, Police Response Units as well as the news Media.

Duties and Responsibilities

This section assigns detailed emergency responsibilities to church and school members.  Their duties are briefly summarized here:

• Featherstone Elementary Principal and Cokesbury UMC Pastor are in charge of the command post and responsible for all decisions
• School Principal or designated authority will be responsible for handling all press inquiries and coordinating all press activities. Press releases to be authorized by the Principal or designated authority.
• Other responding school faculty and Cokesbury UMC members are responsible to give comfort to students as needed.  Also they may be responsible to assist in separating witnesses until released by investigating officer.
• The Church Secretary will be responsible for maintaining a written log of events and annotating in chronological order the events as they occur.

NOTE: At no time will a member of Cokesbury UMC attempt to answer any question to the news media about the situation regarding the incident. Leave that to the professionals.

Cokesbury UMC as shelter
In the event that students are evacuated from school grounds, they will be taken to Cokesbury UMC.  Parents should be aware of this arrangement so they can respond to the alternate location to pick up their children.
The church will have to stay open until all children have been accounted for and all of the police/rescue operations have ceased. The pastor may have to prepare a schedule for members to work shifts to allow efficient support. Members of Cokesbury are urged to make known to the pastor if they are able to respond and assist. The more members who can respond, the better it will be for all who have to work such a detail.