The Standard Reunification Method (SRM)
Recovery Starts When the Crisis Begins.
A critical aspect of incident response is the accountable reunification of students with their parents or guardians. The SRM provides school and district safety teams with proven methods for planning, practicing and achieving a successful reunification during what are often chaotic, anxiety-filled scenes. A predetermined, practiced reunification method will help defuse emotion at the site.
SRM relies on site-specific considerations, so successful planning and implementation demands collaboration with administration and responding agencies. A plan for reuniting students and parents is the responsibility of schools and districts to maintain the chain of custody for every student.
Materials
SRM V2 – Operational Guidance
Reunification guidance for schools, districts, departments and agencies.
Purchase the BookSRM – Reunification Card
The Reunification Cards are press ready for your printer. The artwork is set up for Work and Tumble on 8 1/2 x 11 index card stock.
SRM – Parent Handout
The Parent Handout describes the SRM in a single page.
SRM Signage
Vector artwork sized at 24” x 32” comfortably fitting in most sandwich board curb sign frames.
About The Reunification Operation Kit
“It Was So Cool”
That was the summary report The “I Love U Guys” Foundation’s Executive Director, John-Michael Keyes, gave to the Foundation’s Board of Directors following the ALERRT Conference in 2014. Keyes was presenting at the conference and while there, Will Schwall, Deputy Marshal, City of San Marcos Marshal’s Office showed him the Reunification Operation Kit Hays County had developed. Conferences can get pretty busy and so it was already evening when Will popped the back of the Tahoe to show off the “Kit.”
“Even Cooler, They’ll Share”
It’s gratifying when a non-profit organization can see tangible outcomes. But it’s a testament to San Marcos and Hays County, Texas, that they are willing to share hundreds of hours of effort. To honor that commitment, the Foundation is releasing the work product as the “Reunification Operation Kit, Hays County Practical Implementation.”
The heavy lifting was accomplished by the City of San Marcos and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. The Foundation has edited, anonymized and formatted the material to follow SRM V2 graphic standards.
Deliverables
The objective of this document is to give the user enough material to assemble Reunification Operation Kits (ROK). There is some level of effort on the user’s part in creating maps, site plans and evaluating routes. Additional effort in promoting, testing and exercising the kits with all of the stakeholders will be necessary.
Prerequisites
This product is designed from an experienced emergency management perspective, therefore a solid understanding of the Incident Command System and incident action planning is required.
Additionally, a solid understanding of the Standard Reunification Method will be necessary. If the other materials on the Foundation’s website haven’t been reviewed, please download and evaluate those materials as well.
How It Works
The goal is to create a self contained kit that can be brought to a reunification site and another kit for the impacted site. Hays County used file folders to accomplish a reunification. The ROK uses view binders with clear pages to accomplish the same. The kits contains written and graphic materials that can be distributed to reunification team members, on site, who perform the student/parent reunification. While there are some key roles where prior knowledge and training in the SRM is necessary, the kit contents have been created to allow for someone with no prior knowledge of the process to successfully understand, then perform their given tasks and duties, simply by opening and reading the contents of the binders.
Do Not Be Daunted
The Hays County Practical Implementation is an extensive operations plan, designed from the perspective of a well resourced city and county emergency management team. Smaller districts, agencies and counties should evaluate and scale to their environments.
If You Buy It, It Gathers Dust.
If You Build It, It Gathers Fingerprints.
The Foundation built several versions of the Reunification Operation Kit (The ROK).
View our current version below. See our Amazon Shopping List.
Reunification Site – Reunification Operation Kit
Downloadable versions of all materials are made available at no cost.
Job Action Sheets
ROK Every Folder Resources and Process
SRM Role ID Badge Exterior Operations
SRM Role ID Badge Unified Command
Reunification Organization Chart
Box IDs Layout
Binder Spine Labels Reunification Site
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The Reunification Site ROK Box
There are two of these for the Reunification Site.
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Inside The Reunification Site ROK Box
12 Binders, each with Job Action Sheets and Role IDs.
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View Binders
The same kit can be used for exercising and reunification.
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Not Everyone Needs A Binder
Role IDs are clipped inside the view binder.
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Job Action Sheets
Each Binder has Job Action Sheets. Slip these into page protectors too.
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Some Roles Only Need The Role ID
Job instructions are printed on the back of the ID
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View Binders Can Be Reused Using Dry Erase Markers
The back of the binder has direct reports and other contact info.
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The Other ROK Box
Vests, reunification cards, pens, caution tape, and more.
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See The Entire Shopping List
Look for the link above.
