Not every CSRA school has a sports-related emergency plan
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Not every district is doing what it should to keep your child safe. Thirty-seven states require schools to have a plan for what to do when there is a sports-related emergency.
Both Georgia and South Carolina are on that list.
These emergency action plans – or EAPs – are more than just a district-wide policy. They’re supposed to be location-specific.
Each athletic facility requires an EAP — one for the gym, the football field, the track, the soccer field and so on.
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At the beginning of the school year, we asked each school district for its emergency action plan.
The Georgia High School Association posted a sample EAP to its website, but this would work for South Carolina schools too.
It’s a blueprint for what to do in a medical emergency, and it lists where the closest emergency equipment is located, like an AED.
Both states suggest rehearsing EAPs, and South Carolina’s high school league even dedicates a week to practicing them each year.
EAPs are not optional, and they are supposed to be on file in each school’s office.
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So, 12 On Your Side Investigates asked every district in our area for a copy of every EAP.
And here’s what we found.
Starting with the one that stood out the most – Aiken County.
In an email, the director of istration stated, “We do have security plans for all schools – but we do not have any medical emergency action plans at this time.”
Jefferson County Schools also appear to be in violation of this, telling 12 On Your Side Investigates, “We do not have an emergency action plan in writing.”
But they did let us know they have safety measures in place, like AEDs and coaches trained in R.
We made this request under Georgia’s Open Records Act and South Carolina’s Public Records Law.
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Several counties did not send us emergency action plans — McDuffie, Edgefield, Glascock, Jenkins and Wilkes counties.
They all provided similar information about adhering to policies about heat and humidity and R-AED training, but again, we were not provided with the information that’s supposed to be on file at each school.
So, who sent us EAPs?
Richmond and Columbia counties, and as you can imagine, it’s a lot because it’s multiple plans per school.
Burke, Saluda, Washington, Bamberg, Lincoln, Taliaferro and Warren counties also sent us EAPs as well.
FIND THE PLAN FOR YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL:
, emergency action plans are not optional. Both the Georgia and South Carolina Athletic Associations require this.
But from what we can tell, some schools have not done the work.
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