Your First Drill – How to Plan, Run, and Learn From It

Ensuring an effective and educational event

Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

Why Your First Drill Matters

Your first church safety drill sets the tone for every drill that follows. Done well, it builds trust, establishes credibility, and encourages the congregation to take future drills seriously. Done poorly, it can create confusion, skepticism, and even resistance.

The goal of your first drill isn’t perfection—it’s to begin creating a culture of readiness where everyone understands the importance of practicing for emergencies.

Step 1: Choose a Relevant Drill Scenario

Use your Church Risk Matrix from your Safety Sabbath preparation phase to select a drill that addresses your most likely and impactful emergency risk. For first-time drills, common scenarios include:

• Fire evacuation
• Severe weather shelter-in-place
• Missing child
• Medical emergency response

Step 2: Plan With Precision

A successful first drill depends on clear preparation.
Key Actions:

1. Form Your Drill Team – Include your Safety Officer, key ministry leaders, and volunteers who will have specific roles.
2. Map Your Routes and Zones – Clearly define evacuation routes, assembly areas, or shelter locations.
3. Assign Roles – From crowd management to child check-in/check-out oversight, every role must be clear before drill day.
4. Consider Special Needs – Plan for members with disabilities, medical equipment, or mobility challenges.

Step 3: Communicate Early and Often

Surprises in drills can be counterproductive for your first run. Let leaders, volunteers, and the congregation know in advance.
Communication Channels:

• Church announcements
• Email newsletter
• Safety bulletin board
• Ministry leader briefings

Step 4: Run the Drill

On drill day:

• Start With a Briefing – Remind leaders and volunteers of their roles.
• Announce the Drill – Ensure the congregation understands this is a practice.
• Time the Response – Start when the signal is given, and record the time to completion.
• Observe Closely – Assign observers to note bottlenecks, confusion points, or unsafe behaviors.

Step 5: Debrief and Learn

The real value of a drill is in the lessons learned.
Immediately After:
Hold a quick on-site debrief with key leaders.
If desired, include the whole congregation in the debrief to gather observations and feedback while the experience is fresh.

Within a Week:

• Host a follow-up meeting with the Safety Committee and key volunteers.
• Review findings, identify improvement actions, and schedule them.
• Share highlights and lessons learned with the congregation to reinforce transparency and trust.

Step 6: Record and Refine

Document the drill in your Safety Committee’s records:

• Scenario practiced
• Roles assigned
• Time taken
• Observations and feedback
• Improvement actions scheduled

Over time, these records will help you measure your church’s growth in readiness.

Practical Insight:

Start with a simpler drill and build up. For example, begin with a fire evacuation before moving on to a missing child or active threat drill. This allows your team and congregation to grow in confidence without overwhelming them in the early stages.