Declaring an Emergency Necessitating Pesticide Use

In the Healthy Schools Act, "emergency conditions" are defined as "circumstances in which the school designee deems that the immediate use of a pesticide is necessary to protect the health and safety of pupils, staff, or other persons, or the school site."

Before an emergency ever occurs, the IPM Coordinator must establish a communication "tree" with the names and phone numbers of people to contact in a crisis. Each contact should have a set of clearly defined responsibilities. For instance, the IPM Coordinator notifies the public information officer who then handles contact with the media and the concerns of parents and the general public. The IPM Coordinator also notifies administrators who decide who to notify at higher levels. The IPM Coordinator must communicate effectively with all those involved in the emergency and must choose information that is appropriate for each person with whom he or she communicates. For instance, the superintendent will not need to be informed of specific mixing instructions for the pesticide, and the pesticide applicator will not need to know the names of the students and staff involved.

The following questions should be used to determine and document emergency conditions and to justify emergency actions.

• Who is the person who is alerting you to the emergency? Is the person credible? Does he or she have the necessary knowledge to make a determination of an emergency?
• What is the problem? Find out as much as you can about the problem and what is causing it. What kind of pest is involved? Is the problem one of health and/or safety?
• Where is the problem? Is the location such that it is an immediate threat to health and safety? Can the area be cordoned off to prevent further problems?
• When did the problem occur? Is it happening at this moment, or did it happen two weeks ago, and is just now being reported?
• How did the problem occur? What are the circumstances surrounding the incident?
• Why did the problem occur? What factors contributed to the creation of the problem?

Once an emergency is declared and the channels of communication are open, the next step is assessing the possible options for solving the problem and choosing the most effective one. Once the treatment has been chosen, the IPM Coordinator should communicate this decision to all necessary parties. When the emergency is over, it is important to assess the effectiveness of the chosen course of action and to make adjustments in the pest management system so that an emergency doesn’t recur. This evaluation and the changes that are made should be documented and reported to those involved in the emergency.