Responsibilties of the Emergency Manager (EM) December 5, 2006

There must be at least one trained Emergency Manager (EM) at any youth ministry event taking place off-site (including retreats, camps, and mission trips) and at Friday Night at the Journey.

The following are the responsibilities of the Emergency Manager:

• all leaders must know who the EM is at each event
• the EM must know the emergency number of the area and where phones are located if they don’t have a cell phone
• must know the closest places to receive medical help and how to get there
• must be trained in first aid and CPR and know where the first aid kit is located
• must direct people in the event of a fire, earthquake, or tornado- where is everyone supposed to go and how do they get there?
• must know the total number of youth and adults at each event so they can lead a head-count in an emergency if needed
• must know which adults have medical training- doctors, nurses, EMTs, those with CPR and first aid training, etc.
• must know special medical conditions and medications taken of the youth
• has copies of all permission slips and medical release forms

In an emergency the EM:

• drops what they are doing and attends to the emergency
• assesses the situation and decides what needs to be done
• delegates tasks and directs the other students and youth
• delegates someone to call the emergency number
• stays with any injured youth or adults until medical help arrives
• has the medical release forms for any injured individuals
• appoints someone to go to the hospital with any injured individuals
• contacts the following people:
  • parents
  • then senior pastor
• makes sure the emergency site has been cleaned up if needed
• files incident and damage reports

Risk Management Policies for Leaders December 5, 2006

Risk management policies for leaders are meant to protect both students and leaders from unhealthy, inappropriate, or dangerous relationships within the ministry.

• To prevent unhealthy relationships between volunteer leaders and students, volunteer leaders must go through a long evaluation and observation period. To learn about this process, click here.
• Volunteer leaders must also meet leader expectations to continue to volunteer with the ministry. The expectations can be found here.

Risk Management Policies for Transportation December 5, 2006

• all drivers must be 21 and go through a driver application process insuring that:
  • all drivers must not have a history of moving violations or tickets in the past 2 years or a history of major accidents or reckless driving (including DUI’s) ever
  • all drivers must be insured
  • all drivers agree to follow all traffic laws
• all vehicles must be insured
• there must be more than one adult in each vehicle for out-of-town trips (so the other adult can deal with navigation and students)
• all vehicles must have a maintenance check before departing on out-of-town trips
• everyone must be wearing seat-belts the entire time the vehicle is in motion
• there must be at least one cell phone per vehicle in case of emergency

Risk Management Policies for Off-Site Events December 5, 2006

Off-site events are any event that takes place outside of the Journey Coffeehouse, First Church, or is further than a short walking distance from either facility.

• all students must turn in parental permission slips for each event
• all students must have an updated medical form on file (less than 6 mo. old) for any trips out of town or any over night events
• any medication must be turned in to the youth minister along with directions from a parent on the proper use (emergency medications such as an inhaler may stay with students but the youth minister must be informed)
• drugs, alcohol, weapons, pepper spray, or other potentially dangerous items will not be allowed
• students endangering themselves or others may be sent home- parents will be required to make arrangements to bring them home
• separate restroom, changing, and sleeping areas for males and females must be available as needed
• bring a well-stocked first aid kit for out-of-town events
• at least one adult must be trained in first aid and CPR
• leaders must know the emergency number of the area and where phones are located if they do not have a cell phone
• leaders must know the emergency plan (where will everyone go in the event of a fire? tornado?)
• at least one Emergency Manager must be along and all leaders must know to report any emergencies to the EM

Risk Management Policies for On-site Events December 5, 2006

On-site events are any events that take place at the Journey Coffeehouse, First Church, or outside either of those sites within a short walking distance.

• there must be at least one adult for every 20 students (but the ideal is 1 adult for every 6 or 7 students)
• a well-stocked first aid kit is available and in a convenient location
• all volunteer baristas will be trained in first aid and the youth minister and interns will be trained in CPR
• All volunteers are trained in emergency procedures when they are oriented to each site
• students and leaders must be in a public space if they are alone together
• alcohol. drugs, weapons, pepper spray, or other items deemed dangerous are not allowed on-site at any time
• students endangering themselves or others may be sent home- parents will be required to make arrangements to bring them home
• the following will not be allowed:
  • Chubby Bunny, eating of any raw meat/fish/eggs, any games where there is a reasonable risk for head injury (unless students wear helmets)
• there must be one Emergency Manager (EM) on site for any large-group event such as Friday Night at the Journey and all leaders must know to report emergencies to the EM

Risk Management Policies for Retreats October 24, 2006

Here is the Risk Management Policy for the Journey Coffeehouse and all its ministry activities:

• all students must turn in parental permission slips for each event
• all students must have an updated medical form on file (less than 6 mo. old)
• any medication must be turned in to the youth minister along with directions from a parent on the proper use (emergency medications such as an inhaler may stay with students but the youth minister must be informed)
• leaders will know special medical conditions of students
• drugs, alcohol, weapons, pepper spray, or other potentially dangerous items will not be allowed
• students endangering themselves or others may be sent home- parents will be required to make arrangements to bring them home
• separate restroom, changing, and sleeping areas for males and females must be available as needed
• a well-stocked first aid kit will be available
• at least two adults must be trained in first aid and CPR
• leaders must know the emergency number of the area and where phones are located if they don’t have a cell phone
• leaders must know the closest places to receive medical help
• leaders must know the emergency plan (where will everyone go in the event of a fire? tornado?)
• there will be student checkpoints at least twice a day and at curfew to make sure that every student is accounted for
• there will be a clear and enforced curfew
• the following will be off-limits to youth when there is no adult present to supervise:
  • sledding/ski/snowboarding hills
  • swimming areas
  • nature trails
  • archery
  • ropes courses
  • rock climbing areas
• at least one Emergency Manager must be along and all leaders must know to report any emergencies to the EM