A Primer for Emergency Wayfinding in Schools

TITLE: K-12 Emergency Wayfinding in Schools: A Science Made for Kids (and Adults)

By Eric Porterfield, President, Public Safety Network

“The challenge of crime to society changes with the advance of civilization, particularly as

technology continues to improve. Advancing technology brings greater opportunity and

human comforts. But it also introduces new opportunities and temptations for human

greed.”

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

(Second Edition, 1999), Timothy D. Crowe

Several Christmases ago, I found a copy of “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design”

by Timothy Crowe in my father’s home office. When I asked to borrow it, he explained it wasn’t

a “real page turner” and thought I might prefer a more relaxing read. (A kind way of saying, “it’s

probably a little over your head”.) I read it anyway.

More recently, my youngest son -- an ergonomic design engineer at a Washington, DC

architectural firm – gave me Chris Calori’s seminal book, “Signage and Wayfinding Design”. I’d

recently accepted a role managing the ELS911™ Wayfinding system -- created by law

enforcement and public safety educator and consultant Scott Henry. In my son’s words, “This

book has saved a lot of lives.”

Wayfinding: A Key to Human Evolution and Survival

Wayfinding is the cognitive and corporeal process and experience of locating, following or

discovering a route through and to a given space. Historically, wayfinding refers to the

techniques used by travelers over land and sea to find relatively unmarked and often

mislabeled routes, such as dead reckoning, map and compass, astronomical positioning and,

more recently, global positioning.

Creatures of land and sea have used wayfinding to mate, hunt, feed, migrate, shelter, etc., for

millions of years. Evidence of human wayfinding dates back more than 5,000 years. Our

paleolithic ancestors’ sharing of information and knowledge through wall drawings are a

historic record of their existence, environment, and means of survival.

Wayfinding is about building social and environmental “trust”. Ancient drawings and motifs

indicating migration patterns, lunar, solar, and celestial forecasting predicted weather patterns,

safe/unsafe passages and territories, water sources, tribal boundaries, edible vegetation, are

clear in their intent. They were not intentional artistic expressions, but a principle means of

informing other hunters, gatherers and nomads – likely of disparate “languages” -- of the local

environment’s risks and rewards.

Paleolithic drawings such as this were a critical means of informing future occupants of the

environment’s opportunities and risks.

Remarkably, deciphering these drawings thousands of years later is not terribly difficult -- even

to the untrained archeological eye. They are simple and clear. Sheltered from the elements,

they were narratively intuitive so that even a very young child could decipher their meaning.

Wayfinding is the oldest non-hereditary tool in humans’ survival toolbox. Simplicity and

familiarity are the cornerstones of its success. Even amidst the incredible gains in technology

since Paleolithic times, wayfinding remains humans’ most critical spatial tool.

Children and Wayfinding

A child’s brain is a work-in-progress until the age of approximately twenty-three. During that

time, cognitive and behavioral wellness and growth depends on many factors, including

exposure to a variety of environments, experiences and people, the environment in which they

exist (e.g., home, school, relative or friend’s house, etc.), and developing language and

communication skills formed largely through experiences.

The emotions associated with security are formed around experiences in various environments

that inform awareness. The more familiar a child is with their surroundings and the people in

them, the more secure they feel. And the more secure a child feels the more informed, resilient

and curious they act.

But what happens when a space once considered “safe” is threatened or thrown into chaos?

What happens when adults we trust and rely upon to act aren’t available or can’t be relied

upon due to the events producing that chaos?

Children rely on familiarity. Faces, voices, and places contribute mightily to a child’s sense of

security and safety. A child separated from his mother in the grocery store by only a few feet is

a good example. The child may have simply lost track of his mother as he searches for his

favorite cereal, but without a visual on his mother, cereal searching can quickly turn into stress

that will likely be recalled when next invited to go to the store.

Why is that? Surely, the child must be aware that mother might be just around the corner. Such

logic is formative. The child may be aware of this possibility, but other possibilities may exist in

the mind of a child who has anxiety formed by previous experience(s). A child lost in the store4

may recall being with his mother in the parking lot, head toward the exit and straight into a

truly dangerous situation.

Early Childhood Spatial Orientation, Learning and Navigation

A child’s spatial intelligence is central to cognitive and behavioral growth. It also helps them

navigate danger.

Thus, a child who is routinely exercised in the perils of street crossing without looking both

ways first might not connect the risks of a walking across a parking lot. But after many trips

crossing the street or walking across the parking lot, a child will become familiar with fast

moving cars (risk/danger) coming from either direction or location.

Spatial navigation is an evolutionary cognitive process foundational to a child’s ability to

perceive and react to the conditions of their world. It fosters intuition, communication and

reasoning skills. It often requires reinforcement in the form of verbal, environmental and/or

directional cues. Without consistent affirmation or refutation, a child’s actions in certain

environments may lead to injury or death.

Until 2018, my work in public safety was largely focused on consulting with healthcare facilities

seeking to better understand anomalies in their emergency response plans. One day, our risk

vulnerability team visited a hospital in northeast Pennsylvania. It’s oldest building was 100

years old and its newest about 20 years old. Its wayfinding featured legacy signs dating back to

the 1960s, an obsolete color-coded location “system” painted on walls and floors throughout

most of the buildings, and a plethora of not-so informative signs touting gift shop sales, main

entrance valet parking (blocking a critical security sign), and an “information” board that would

have confounded Einstein.

Hospital wayfinding has a long and checkered history. Poor wayfinding raises stress levels,

causes missed appointments and can cost hospitals hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The facility conjured a quote from the book my son had given me:

Within the best architecture, finding one’s way around should hopefully require a relatively

minor effort and, at least, little signage…In fact, the best signage is in the right place at the

right time, considers the viewer, and is neither overly repetitive nor demanding.

Hospitals are unique in that they commonly create stress that is relatively predictable. Afterall,

few people like going to the hospital – even people who are just visiting. More importantly,

stress impacts the overall performance of a facility intended to serve our physical and mental

well-being. And yet, more than 30% of hospitals in the United States have never developed a

unified wayfinding system based on that objective.

The Importance of Wayfinding in Schools

Children know their way around their school; not immediately, of course, but over time they

are able to navigate most of the spaces in their school without difficulty. They know where they

can and should not go. As they become more familiar with their school, they are exposed to

classroom names or numbers, environmental and visual references, and sounds that aid their

navigation and communication skills.

Most children refer to locations in school by name when describing their location: lunchroom,

music room, playground, nurse’s office, etc. These are static spatial references children can

readily identify, though one’s parents, visitors, and first responders may not.

Room numbers are static spatial references that form spatial and location connections

further informed by the purpose of the space or visual cues that connect them to the space.

(“Mrs. Smith’s Class”, “music room”, “lunchroom”, etc.)

In some schools, the lunchroom may also serve as an activity space, or a music room might also

be used to teach art. Therefore, children may have a different reference and description for a

room with multiple uses.

With this in mind, we need to create comprehensive safety plans for schools that include

location and their use, and spatial considerations that enhance and service a child’s ability to

recall numerous locations throughout the school. These spatial “markers” are wayfinding tools

that can be incorporated into mapping and location tools used by first responders.

This hearkens the quote from earlier:

Within the best architecture, finding one’s way around should hopefully require a relatively

minor effort and, at least, little signage…In fact, the best signage is in the right place at the right

time, considers the viewer, and is neither overly repetitive nor demanding.

Wayfinding Solutions Integrated with First Responders Location-finding Tactics/Tools

Many schools in America have elected to post room numbers on windows so those on the

outside can identify a particular room. The idea owes its legacy to fire department wayfinding,

but firefighting, EMS/EMT and law enforcement have different objectives, training and

communications and location-finding tools. With this in mind, signs in windows should not be

considered a safety wayfinding tool.

In 2014, school safety and security consultant and Executive Director of Safe Havens

International, Michael Dorn, wrote:

In the U.S., a far more common hazard involves situations where classroom and office

numbers are placed on outside windows. This could allow someone coming to a school to7

attack or attempting to abduct a specific person to more easily locate a particular victim

or group of victims.

For reasons we can surmise from what’s been already posited, schools that post room numbers

in windows may be imperiling their school and its occupants. Reasons include:

1. Not all rooms in a school have windows.

2. Interior rooms in a school have no windows.

3. Not all rooms with windows face a street or parking area utilized by first responders.

4. Numbered windows do not address interior spaces; including interior spaces that lead

to locating rooms (and/or connecting rooms) in complex settings.

5. Identifying commonly published or available room numbers may imperil a child or adult

by informing a person seeking to do them harm of their location.

6. Most emergency events are fluid in nature. As such, the original location of a critical

event may change several times (in a short period) leaving students and teachers at risk

of moving toward (versus away from) a critical incident based solely on a limited

numbering system.

7. Window numbering can be easily damaged or destroyed during a critical event.

8. Children have greater difficulty recalling numbers than they do a combination of color,

letter and number sequences identifiers. (NIH, Tulving, 1973, 1992)

A 2013 Journal of Medical Science (JMS) study, The Influence of Memory on Color Performance,

found that “color increase chances of environmental stimuli to be encoded, stored, and

retrieved successfully.” In short, introducing color to wayfinding further assists a child’s recall.

Courtesy of ELS911™

From the JMS study:

Color is believed to be the most important visual experience to human beings. It functions as

a powerful information channel to the human cognitive system and has been found to play a8

significant role in enhancing memory performance. Color can be very effective in learning and

educational setting, marketing, communication, or even sport.

Subsequent work in the realm color coding underscores how color can communicate a

relationship or association. For example, most countries use the colors of red and green to

express “stop” and “go” on their roadways.

When it comes to spatial differentiation, deploying a color, letter and number provides a

baseline for more complex messaging. Take for instance a school hallway. A hallway labeled

“H1” on a blue background is relatively easy for a child to remember – especially if they walk by

it several times a day. At the same time, first responders can decipher it more fully when

locating an emergency, as follows:

H = Hallway

S = Stairway

A = Main Entrance

B = Next Entrance Moving Clockwise

1 = First location in a clockwise sequence

Above: ELS911™ Wayfinding mapping for high school with 300+ students

In the above example, the first hallway sign a person encounters entering the Main Entrance

(“A”, highlighted in the graphic above in yellow) would be “H1” (Hallway 1 highlighted in red) in

white lettering on a blue background. Proceeding toward the “Band” room, the next hallway is

hallway 2, or “H2” (framed in purple) when labeled. The next hallway would be labeled “H3”

(highlighted in orange).

EXAMPLE 1: A person at doorway “A” wanting to get to doorway “D” simply moves around the

exterior to the left. If they want to get to doorway “FF”, moving to the right and following

hallways 1, 3, and 5 would be quickest.

EXAMPLE 2: If an intruder with a knife is located at entrance “A” is runs to entrance “Y” (orange

and white border), emergency responders at entrance “A” could proceed down “H1”, take a left

onto “H2” until they arrive at entrance “Y”.

This information is intuitive once understood and can be shared by the school with 9-1-1 and/or

via in-vehicle mapping systems.

The pattern associated with this example comes from ELS911™ which integrates simple and

visually expressive signs within all exterior and interior spaces. The ELS911™ signage

methodology is directional, allowing locations to be understood in a sequential pattern that

follows alphabetic and numeric progressions most 4-year-olds can recite.

The Time-to-Respond Factor

The most important factor during a critical incident is time. Time to report. Time to dispatch.

Time to respond. Time to arrive. Time to address. It takes children and the elderly longer to

express themselves – particularly during a crisis.

In nearly every school shooting, the “time-to-respond” paradigm was a leading indicator

when it came to survivor/wounded/casualty outcomes. In the realm of civil liability, “time-to-

respond” has become a leading factor in determining fault and, in turn, fiscal and criminal

liability.

Undoubtedly, insurers are concerned that time-to-respond claims will increase as schools

become larger through consolidation and, therefore, more difficult for first responders to

navigate.

Wayfinding’s Affordability Factor

Some say wayfinding is just signs designed to help a person find their way. But emergency

wayfinding involves integrating a standardized signage program with location identification

tools including COMMs, in vehicle GPS and mapping, etc.

Still, the cost of an integrated emergency wayfinding system in a school serving a few hundred

to a few thousand children is relatively inexpensive, particularly when compared to almost any

other school safety and security product or service.

Without question, wayfinding is one of the most critical tools in the “time-to-respond” tool kit.

Without it, first responders (particularly those from another jurisdiction) are without a key

piece of information that reduces the likelihood of a positive outcome with every passing

second.

Conclusion

Human beings are creatures of habit. We are also creatures driven by self-preservation and

security. Food security. Shelter security. Nutritional security. Physical security. Intuition,

familiarity, situational awareness, etc., all contribute to our sense of security.

When it comes to children, forming habits that aid in their well-being and safety takes time.

Children who are exposed to wayfinding that is highly visible, non-threatening, simple, posted

at proper heights and intervals, and in all parts of their school are less likely to feel stressed or

confused when locating themselves or others during an emergency.

Its affordability is key to making it a ubiquitous tool that all schools can afford. Remember,

“Where’s your emergency?” is the first question a 9-1-1 operator needs to have

A recent piece in Education Week® (09/13/2024) titled, “Parents Want Cell Phones in the Classroom. Here’s Why,” highlighted a survey from the National Parents Union (NPU) regarding parents’ thoughts on students having cell phones in the classroom. The NPU survey claims more than three-quarters of parents want to be able to access their children at any time during the school day by cell phone.  

(It is important to note that NPU is a nonprofit parent advocacy group that seeks to raise the influence of parent opinion in K-12 schools – including school safety.)

A quick study of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas underscores how the proliferation of cell phones in school can make a bad situation worse. Among the many issues cited as key contributors to the chaos and tragedy of the Uvalde emergency response was this: More than 200 calls were made from cell phones to 9-1-1 during the first ten minutes of the shooter arriving at the school. Not only did this call-load overwhelm the 9-1-1 call center (PSAP), but many of the callers who did get through provided inaccurate and/or conflicting information. 

In short, they made a bad situation worse. 

As well-intentioned as callers might have been, volume of 9-1-1 calls was cited in the 2024 Department of Justice report as a major contributing factor leading to the slowed response of law enforcement and medical services.

The NPU survey reported that, “Daily practical concerns over scheduling rides, and medical or dental appointment reminders are also important considerations for parents when they send their kids off to school with their cellphones. More than half of parents said they want their children to have their phones so they can reach their kids or find out where they are during the day, when needed.”

Not surprisingly, the NPU survey failed to ask parents if children with cell phones in the classroom compromises responders from receiving clear, timely and accurate information during a critical, life-threatening event? Or, what role do you think cell phones play in contributing to school violence?

Perhaps this complex issue could be clarified more quickly if the focus was solely on the safety and well-being of children versus the emotional and intemperate needs of adults. The National Parents Union simply adds noise to an already confusing issue. Here’s a link to the DOJ Report: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-releases-report-its-critical-incident-review-response-mass-shooting-robb

Imagine driving from New York City to the ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier in California in 1970; map on the dashboard, low on gas and hungry. Now imagine using GPS in 2023 to make the same trip. As we travel the nearly 3,000 miles, we know the way to our final destination and the closest food and gas. Of course, GPS is designed to plot your journey based on efficiency of time versus what sights and experiences we might be missing along the way. As Michael Bond points out in his fascinating and easy-to-read book, GPS may deliver you to a destination, but it also denies us a "work out" of our navigational skills, understanding of new landscapes and confidence. It also affects other cognitive skills that were built on top of wayfinding skills humans have developed over thousands of years.

Understanding some of the innate processes in the brain that help us orientate (as well as those that can undermine us) helps us form cognitive maps. These maps are formed through egocentric and spatial interaction. Like when we lose our keys, we quickly lose our patience when the logic of where they should be (but are not) convinces us that those keys are conspiring against us. No, they did not "just get up and walk to a different location," but that's the way we feel. Irrational? Perhaps. More importantly, it illustrates how easily stress induces irrational thoughts. Even in moments of mild to moderate stress.

Now imagine trying to find your phone during an emergency so you can call 9-1-1. Stress is already at work by the time you've found it. And then 9-1-1 dispatch asks, "What's your emergency? What is your location? Is the person breathing?" And so on. At the same time, the fire, gun shots or heart attack victim is demanding your attention. This is an unfamiliar landscape. Your brain, hands and heart aren't in sync. You're losing your way.

Bond's book is an excellent primer for those who seek a better understanding of the cognitive processes that help us find our way -- or disrupt it. It takes into consideration the importance of knowing where you are and want to go, and what you need -- whether you have lost your keys or are in charge of a room full of children who depend on you when confronted with a situation beyond comprehension or experience. Eric's Grade: A