Cliff Buchan
News EditorEmergency plans now on the books in Forest Lake Area Schools will receive examination at a national conference in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25-26.
Joe Grafft, a member of the ISD 831 School Board, will lead a local delegation to the nationís capital for a conference of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.
School officials from Forest Lake will be panel presenters during the two-day conference which has a goal to develop ìGuidelines for Prehospital Response to Emergencies in Schools.î
Grafft, a member of the NAEMT organization, said ISD 831ís involvement was requested on behalf of a NAEMT colleague who sought a school with a well-defined emergency plan.
Forest Lake is one of two schools in the country that will take part in the national conference, Grafft said.
As a follow-up to the conference, ISD 831 will host a site visit by NAEMT officials later in the year.
The goal of the two-day conference is to develop a draft document that will help school districts form and enhance existing emergency plans, Grafft said.
Grafft is one of four leaders from the Forest Lake area who will attend.
Others include Dr. Donley H. Johnson, director of administration and human resources for ISD 831; Shawn Lafferty, police liaison officer, Forest Lake High School; and Cindy Reese, RN, paramedic supervisor, North Memorial Medical Center with duties locally through Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center, Wyoming.
Grafft will serve the panel as an elected board official while Johnson will speak from the administrative perspective in emergency plan development.
Lafferty, an officer with the Forest Lake Police Department, will represent law enforcementís perspective in school emergency situations. Reese will present views of the medical first responders at school emergencies.
Grafft said the national panel will address a wide range of emergency situations from crime to weather.
Cost to the school district for travel and hotel expense will be covered by NAEMT through federal grant dollars.
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