Deer Park School Admins Get Federal Safety Training

Administrators in the Deer Park School District were given special training during a recent retreat on the Incident Command System (ICS), a Federal Emergency Management Agency-developed course to how its safety procedures can be applied to school incidents and emergencies, according to a statement released by the school. The training was meant to beef up security procedures and continue to keep kids and staff in the district safe.

The course was presented by instructors from the Suffolk County Fire Academy, Jack Blaum, a retired Suffolk County police detective and former chief of the North Patchogue Fire Department who serves as Suffolk’s deputy fire coordinator; and New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief Tom Richardson, the former chief of the Deer Park Fire Department.

"The program prepares school officials for how they would interface with community emergency response personnel from any agencies that might be called to respond," the school explained in a statement.

Superintendent Eva J. Demyen and her staff, school principals, and assistant principals were among the 27 administrators who were in the training.

“By completing this introductory course in ICS, the administrators can now evaluate their specific school facilities and personnel and start to plan on how they can use ICS in the future,” said Richardson, “either for an emergency situation or even for a planned event such as the homecoming parade or a graduation ceremony. The overall course goal is to promote school safety by having an organized approach to managing an incident or event.”