Early childhood programs, schools, after-school programs, and youth-serving organization must be prepared to respond to emergency situations — injuries, natural disasters, violent incidents, and unknown adults on the playground — through a documented emergency plan. The emergency plan should outline the process for urgent situations, from which all playground supervisors should be regularly trained.

Your Playground Emergency Plan should include: 

• A defined Crisis Management Team (e.g. Supervisors, Nurse, EMT)
• Action steps for different types of playground emergencies  (e.g., injury, Illness, concussion, heat, serious accident, weapon, hazardous materials)
• Emergency codes
  • Code Yellow: Use when a threat is detected on the playground
  • Code Red: Used when crisis occurs
  • Code Green: Used when the danger has passed
• Required emergency kit items (e.g., contact information, child records, site plans of grounds, cell phones, bullhorn, children medical records)
• Documented Emergency Procedures
• Training Procedures 

When developing your plans for potential emergency situations, we recommend to involving local emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and local police departments, as they can help map out emergency routes. Health consultants or nurses are also great resources to aid in prevention, protection, and safety.

Once the plan is complete, all personnel should be trained on the procedures. Supervisors should also receive additional training on how to manage children during a crisis.