The Command Post is an important location. It should be near the heart of the action while remaining fairly confidential. Closed doors, veiled windows. This is where the Committee will meet to take a break, to discuss various matters, and to make decisions.

Two types of spaces must be identified:

1. The reflection room is a room where students will be able to gather to share or cry. Although private, this room should be supervised by a support worker.
2. Support rooms: these spaces must be available for young people who wish to meet with a support worker individually following the announcement. These premises must be clearly identified.

Students or staff who witnessed the exceptional event should be treated differently because of the unique nature of their experience. These individuals should be assessed with vigilance.

N.B. – It is important that staff have access to a place to verbalize. However, this room must be different from the one allocated to students. At this time, adults and students should have their separate spaces. The staff room often becomes this place, but keep in mind that some staff members may not want to be constantly exposed to their colleagues’ emotions.

If the situation exceeds your internal capacities or if you feel the need for specialized support for managing the event, it is recommended to call on external resources with expertise in these matters.

You can contact Deuil-Jeunesse (1-855-889-3666), a Suicide Prevention Center, a crisis center or the CIUSSS/CISSS staff in your region.

The Committee is in place to ensure that the protocol is deployed. It acts as a support for all the resources that will intervene. It assigns roles and tasks to staff members. You should therefore make a list of the support staff you need.This is the time to contact the necessary resources so they can make their way to the school confidentially.

As long as the announcement has not been made to the students, be vigilant. Call in the psychologist or special education technician if they are off that day, and ask for help from other resources or schools if needed. Better ask for too much support than to be short of resources.

If the police is called in during an event (e.g., accident, homicide, suicide), make sure that the information that you share with them is accurate, as it may end up in the media. You may want to decide on a common discourse to use. For example, if a suicide is not confirmed, the term “apparent suicide” should be used.

Even if this step is difficult, it is essential and respectful to contact the people directly affected by the event. This may include, for example, the spouse of the deceased teacher, the family of the deceased youth, the most affected youth at school, etc.

You should call these people in order to offer support, to listen to them, to hear how the event is being perceived, and to inform them of the steps that will be taken at the school and of the language that will be used. It is very important at this stage to inform them of the role of the school in providing support to the entire school population and in regulating rumours.

Here is an example of what can be said in order to offer support:

“We know you are going through difficult times. Please know that if there is anything we can do to help you, we will try to do it.” Words always come short in the face of suffering, but opening the door and naming your presence is a good thing to do at this stage. A second call will come later.

It may seem a little intrusive to ask questions, but information is crucial. Remember that you will have to manage hundreds or even thousands of reactions afterwards. You could ask a question such as “Would you be ok to tell us what happened? This would help us prepare and guide our interventions.”

Based on the information you have collected so far, you should tell the family or even the young person you are talking to what will be done and said at school. For example, “A collective announcement will be made in each class this morning. We will announce that Paul is dead, but that the circumstances are still unclear, and that an autopsy will be performed.”

If the family resists and does not want an announcement to be made, it is important to understand that the death is not confidential and that the school has a responsibility to put in place the necessary measures to avoid the potential impacts of mismanagement, e.g., rumors and misunderstandings. The goal is to make the school environment safer and to support those who are suffering. Misinformation fuels chaos.

Things move fast on social networks, regardless of the truth. It is important to pay particular attention to these networks and to read what is circulating, because many students, parents and teachers will be reading this “information.” Reading social networks will make you aware of the scale of the event and of the reactions in the school.

Allocate tasks.

The communications manager is responsible for media management, which is not always an easy task. Exceptional events attract the media. It is important to control their presence, to keep them away from students, to tell them where they can go, and especially to make sure that students won’t see them when they arrive at school.

Handling an exceptional event is never simple. The event can occur during a school day, an educational day or during the night. Are the students currently in the classroom?