Overlake's Great Shakeout

Today Overlake joins more than 1 million other people in Washington who will be practicing their earthquake preparedness during The Great Shakeout. This is a national day of emergency preparedness for individuals and organizations to practice.

“It’s important that we do this drill early in the school year so that we’re prepared. It’s also a way to be a part of the greater community,” says Kim Stevens, Athletic Trainer, and member of the Risk Management team.   

Overlake has an extensive risk management team that consults regularly with the Redmond Fire Department and King County Sheriff to maintain best practices in our plans. We practice our fire drills monthly and our lockdown and general earthquake procedures annually, however every two years Overlake executes a full major disaster drill. During this drill, buildings are searched for missing people after attendance is taken to make sure everyone is accounted for.

“We practice these as a last resort, if campus in inaccessible by emergency services and our buildings are safe to enter,” Stevens says. “We will always 100% rely on our local emergency services first and foremost. But we have this in place in the background if we need it. We are always thinking about how we keep our students and employees safe.”

One of the attributes that makes Overlake unique is the beautiful location and property the school sits on. This is also one of the risks that must be addressed by the risk management committee. With our beautiful, vast campus, it is important to have an orderly way to make sure all buildings can be searched quickly in the event of a disaster.

“We want to make sure we have a plan for locating anyone who may not have gotten out of a building or might be trapped  in a building and is scared,” Stevens says.

Having a plan to search buildings efficiently is aided by a robust attendance policy which will help narrow down who to search for in the event of a disaster. In addition, all Overlake employees are able to perform first aid and CPR in the event that downed power lines or fallen trees delay an EMS response. All Overlake faculty and staff are required to be CPR certified and refresh their training every two years.

As Overlake practices our emergency preparedness plans, Stevens encourages families to talk about their own family’s emergency plan. “Talk about it at home. What would your family do if there was a large emergency? In the northwest we are absolutely at risk for a very large earthquake,” Stevens says. “Here at school we’re working to keep your child safe, but what is your family’s plan?”