Competitions have a distinct risk of emergencies. Gas leaks, fires, even earthquakes cause dangerous situations. All teams would then have to evacuate the competition building. For that reason, you and your team should create an emergency evacuation point that everyone on the team knows. One of the scariest things that can happen at a competition is being split off from your team with no form of communication. To prevent this, have a head mentor set a landmark outside the competition that your entire time can meet at. For example, when we attended regionals in Duluth, MN, we chose a large ship that was right outside the competition center to have as our emergency evacuation point. In a panicked situation, this is an easily identifiable point that your whole team will gravitate towards. Before competition, make sure to point out the landmark to your whole team- don’t let them forget. This doesn’t just apply to competitions. Your team should also establish an emergency evacuation point at the hotel for similar reasons.

If an emergency does occur, get to the emergency evacuation point and immediately count off. This ensures that your whole team has removed themselves from the emergency without speculation. If the team finds someone to be missing, alert EMS quickly with a list of the names of the missing. This will make the EMS personnel more efficient.