• After Action Review Report

    This form was developed by the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS) to encourage use of After Action Review procedures under "no stress" conditions thus increasing knowledge and skills that will be advantageous when used following critical life-threatening events. The form is available for use by anyone who finds it advantageous in meeting their improvement objectives in Maryland and beyond. 

  • Reporting individual, please enter your name, the date of your revision, and a brief description of the change(s) being made below.

  • Tier I incidents involved preplanned events within the school. Examples could include:

    •Field Day
    •Open House
    •Planned Emergency Management/Security Drill

    Tier II incidents involve an unscheduled event that disrupts school activity or creates a risk to the school, staff, or students. The risk does not rise to a critical life-threatening event. Examples could include:

    •Weather-related emergency
    •Escalated adult on property
    •Incidents with minimal staff and student involvement

    Tier III incidents involve either:

    A life-threatening incident and triggers the regulatory requirements as a CLT or

    Conduct occurred causing death or which resulted in serious bodily injury to one or more individuals, or which may be charged as a threat of mass violence under Criminal Law Article, §3-1001

    • Incident Overview 
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    • In the space below, please provide a condensed summary of events in approximately two to three sentences. This section does not include detailed events, as specific details will be captured in subsequent sections of this report.

    • Tier I incident: In the following section, list only those participating agencies that were a part of response or logistics.

    • Tier II or III incident: In the following section, list all agencies that were a part of the response.

    • After-Action Review Information 
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    • Incident Details 

    • PRE-EVENT

      This section is used to set the stage for the actual event. Pre-event information includes items that may not have been known during the event but have been learned after the fact.

      Be sure to include descriptions of events, including institutional knowledge for the school at hand, to ensure that the reader understands the importance of documented facts. Pre-event information can be utilized within later sections to provide areas of improvement.​

      ​
      Feel free to use paragraphs, bullets, or both to capture pertinent facts.​
      ​
      NOTE: Each event may not have a clear beginning and end, creating questions regarding whether certain information is captured in Pre Event, Event Detail, or Post Event sections. As a rule of thumb, try to place information in a manner that allows for the event to be captured in chronological order for ease of review by others.  

    • TIER I Incident: Information in this section does not need to be documented in depth, only so that the reader can recall pertinent events.

      Content to note may include, for example:

      • Reason for holding event
      • Any related Emergency Operations Plans for the incident
      • Last review or training prior to event
      • Personnel involved or excluded in the scenario
      • Any meetings help pre-event

    • TIER II Incident: Information in this section should be documented in a manner that information can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Content to note may include, for example:

      • Any related Emergency Operations Plans for the incident
      • Time in which a weather event was known to the school
      • Did this event occur in a known hot spot?
      • Prior incidents in this location
      • Measures taken to prevent the event/incident
      • Technology in place to respond to or prevent the event/incident
      • Were there any indicators of the involved students having disciplinary concerns prior to this event/incident?
      • What, if any, resources have been allocated to any of the involved students (e.g., counseling, instructional/behavioral/social-emotional interventions, etc.)?
      • Has a behavioral threat assessment previously been conducted for any of the involved students?

    • TIER III Incident: Information in this section needs to be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Some examples of content to include:

      • What circumstances allowed for a substantial number of students to be outside, unsupervised, during school hours?
      • If this was a dismissal time, what supervision policies exist that may or may not have been followed?
      • Staff to student ratio
      • Did this event occur in a known hot spot? Have there been other security-related incidents/events in this area?
      • Is this area monitored by CCTV?
      • Were there any indicators of the involved students having disciplinary concerns prior to this event/incident?
      • What, if any, resources have been allocated to any of the students involved? (e.g., counseling, instructional/behavioral/social-emotional interventions, etc.)
      • Has a behavioral threat assessment previously been conducted for any of the involved students?

      *This is not a list of required content - your incident may include more or fewer aspects than are included here. These are only examples to guide your thinking.

    • EVENT

      This section is used to capture the actual event. Depending on the event, the length of this section may vary. For example, in an incident where an assault occurs and the offender is captured immediately, sufficient details may be captured with minimal documentation. However, events that last a significant amount of time may require an entry in this section that is significantly longer and more involved.

      ​
      Be sure to include descriptions of events, including institutional knowledge for the school at hand, to ensure that the reader understands the importance of documented facts. Feel free to use paragraphs, bullets, or both to capture pertinent facts.​
      ​
      NOTE: Each event may not have a clear beginning and end, creating questions regarding whether certain information is captured in Pre Event, Event Detail, or Post Event sections. As a rule of thumb, try to place information in a manner that allows for the event to be captured in chronological order for ease of review by others.  

    • TIER I Incident: Information in this section does not need to be documented in depth, only so that the reader can recall pertinent events.

    • TIER II Incident: Information in this section should be documented in a manner that information can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Content to note may include, for example:

      • What actually happened?
      • How many students were present at the event/incident?
      • How many adults were present at the event/incident?
      • Were any adults (school personnel or caregivers) aware of the potential for the event/incident to occur?
      • If a fight, to what degree were any adults aware of the fight? To what degree were other students aware of it?
      • To what degree were other students aware of the potential for the event/incident occurring?
      • If a student possessed a firearm, to what degree were other students aware that the student in question did so? Were any adults aware?
      • How many students were in immediate danger? (e.g., from a firearm discharge, weather-related damage, etc.)

    • TIER III Incident: Information in this section needs to be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Content to note may include, for example:

      • What actually happened?
      • How many students were present at the event/incident?
      • How many adults were present at the event/incident?
      • Were any adults (school personnel or caregivers) aware of the potential for the event/incident to occur?
      • If a fight, to what degree were any adults aware of the fight? To what degree were other students aware of it?
      • To what degree were other students aware of the potential for the event/incident occurring?
      • If a student possessed a firearm, to what degree were other students aware that the student in question did so? Were any adults aware?
      • How many students were in immediate danger? (e.g., from a firearm discharge, weather-related damage, etc.)

      *This is not a list of required content - your incident may include more or fewer aspects than are included here. These are only examples to guide your thinking.

    • POST-EVENT

      This section is used to capture items that occurred after the event. It is possible that some of the items that may fall within this field began within previous sections; this is to be expected, and pertinent facts surrounding those items should continue into this section if necessary. 

      ​
      Be sure to include descriptions of events, including institutional knowledge for the school at hand, to ensure that the reader understands the importance of documented facts. Feel free to use paragraphs, bullets, or both to capture pertinent facts.​
      ​
      NOTE: Each event may not have a clear beginning and end, creating questions regarding whether certain information is captured in Pre Event, Event Detail, or Post Event sections. As a rule of thumb, try to place information in a manner that allows for the event to be captured in chronological order for ease of review by others.  

    • TIER I Incident: Information in this section does not need to be documented in depth, only so that the reader can recall pertinent events.

    • TIER II Incident: Information in this section should be documented in a manner that information can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Please provide a timeline of decision making as it related to the lifespan of the emergency operation. In addition to this timeline, include other relevant content to thoroughly detail the event. Other relevant content to note may include, for example:

      • Who discovered the victim(s)?
      • Who rendered aid or assistance?
      • Who was the Incident Commander?
      • Who was on the Command Team?
      • Was the Emergency Plan activated?
      • What emergency procedures from the Emergency Plan were put into place, if any?
      • Where was the command post?
      • Who kept notes in the command post?
      • Did transfer of Incident Command (e.g., to/from school personnel) take place?
      • Who was the Law Enforcement Commander, and what time did they arrive?
      • What suggestions, if any, did the Law Enforcement Commander provide that affected emergency operations or student movement?
      • What time was the facility declared safe from threat?
      • Was the phase of emergency operations changed to allow student movement throughout the lifespan of the event? If yes, to what level did this occur?
      • At what point during the lifespan of the event, if any, was the students' day returned to education/business "as usual?"
      • Were the students housed inside or outside of classrooms during the lifespan of the event?
      • If students were housed outside of classrooms, where were they housed and for what time period?
      • How much learning time loss took place?

       

      *This is not a list of required content - your incident may include more or fewer aspects than are included here. These are only examples to guide your thinking.

    • TIER III Incident: Information in this section needs to be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Please provide a timeline of decision making as it related to the lifespan of the emergency operation. In addition to this timeline, include other relevant content to thoroughly detail the event. Other relevant content to note may include, for example:

      • Who discovered the victim(s)?
      • Who rendered aid or assistance?
      • Who was the Incident Commander?
      • Who was on the Command Team?
      • Was the Emergency Plan activated?
      • What emergency procedures from the Emergency Plan were put into place, if any?
      • Where was the command post?
      • Who kept notes in the command post?
      • Did transfer of Incident Command (e.g., to/from school personnel) take place?
      • Who was the Law Enforcement Commander, and what time did they arrive?
      • What suggestions, if any, did the Law Enforcement Commander provide that affected emergency operations or student movement?
      • What time was the facility declared safe from threat?
      • Was the phase of emergency operations changed to allow student movement throughout the lifespan of the event? If yes, to what level did this occur?
      • At what point during the lifespan of the event, if any, was the students' day returned to education/business "as usual?"
      • Were the students housed inside or outside of classrooms during the lifespan of the event?
      • If students were housed outside of classrooms, where were they housed and for what time period?
      • How much learning time loss took place?

    • RECOVERY/POST-EVENT PROCEDURES

      For each item below, indicate if that action occurred during or after the incident. If an item is marked "Yes," a text box will appear. Use this space to provide details regarding the conduct of that item.

      NOTE: A character minimum has been set on each field. Please be thorough in your description of applicable procedures. (There is no maximum character limit.)

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    • PERIPHERAL INFORMATION

      This section captures any pertinent steps within the event that were not captured within the previous sections. You may have felt that some facts weren’t relevant/didn't fit appropriately into other sections of this report. This section provides a place to capture those items. ​
      ​
      Below you'll find examples of potential peripheral information to consider documenting. Note that if an item has been addressed elsewhere in this form, it does not need to be duplicated within this section. ​

      ​
      Be sure to include descriptions of events, including institutional knowledge for the school at hand, to ensure that the reader understands the importance of documented facts. Feel free to use paragraphs, bullets, or both to capture pertinent facts.​
      ​
      NOTE: Each event may not have a clear beginning and end, creating questions regarding whether certain information is captured in Pre Event, Event Detail, or Post Event sections. As a rule of thumb, try to place information in a manner that allows for the event to be captured in chronological order for ease of review by others.  

    • TIER I Incident: Information in this section does not need to be documented in depth, only so that the reader can recall pertinent events.

      Peripheral items to note may include, for example:

      • Reason for holding event
      • Any related Emergency Operations Plans for the incident
      • Last review or training prior to event
      • Personnel involved or excluded in the scenario
      • Any meetings help pre-event

    • TIER II Incident: Information in this section should be documented in a manner that information can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Peripheral items to note may include, for example:

      • Where was the parent staging area?
      • What time were parents initially notified of the event? How frequently were they provided updated information?
      • Who assumed responsibility for communications with parents?
      • Was communication with parents effective in assuaging fear and providing important information?
      • What time did parents begin to arrive?
      • Were any students released to parents prior to dismissal? If so, why? Who made the decision(s)?
      • What factors, policies, procedures, or laws guided the decision to hold students or release them to parents?
      • Where was the media staging area?
      • What time was the press briefing?
      • Where did the press briefing take place?
      • Were the Recovery/Post-Incident procedures indicated in the Emergency Plan completed? Are notes or documents relating to the debriefing available?

    • TIER III Incident: Information in this section needs to be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Peripheral items to note may include, for example:

      • Where was the parent staging area?
      • What time were parents initially notified of the event? How frequently were they provided updated information?
      • Who assumed responsibility for communications with parents?
      • Was communication with parents effective in assuaging fear and providing important information?
      • What time did parents begin to arrive?
      • Were any students released to parents prior to dismissal? If so, why? Who made the decision(s)?
      • What factors, policies, procedures, or laws guided the decision to hold students or release them to parents?
      • Where was the media staging area?
      • What time was the press briefing?
      • Where did the press briefing take place?
      • Were the Recovery/Post-Incident procedures indicated in the Emergency Plan completed? Are notes or documents relating to the debriefing available?
    • Incident Review Information 

    • After-action reviews are conducted to ensure that we improve the response to and recovery from emergency events - as well as seek to mitigate future occurrences. As such, the information they contain must be used to inform these corrective actions and/or other improvements.

      Below, you will be provided with spaces to review and discuss both what went well in your response, as well as what aspects could be improved. Each field will be accompanied by several spaces for determining and listing action items to be completed based on your review.

      Your after-action review team should define clear corrective steps/strategies to be taken, determine a timeframe of urgency for each, identify the required resources, and designate a person responsible for ensuring completion.

      Your incident may not be complex enough to merit using all available action item spaces; however, for each action you indicate, be sure that all other information in its section is provided.

      All target completion dates must be within one (1) calendar year from the date of the incident.

    • SUCCESSES

      TIER I Incident:       This section should identify specific actions that proved to be successful. Be sure to include the root cause of each action identified.

      It's important to ensure successes are documented, as this could provide guidance for local education agencies (your own or others) in the future.

      Information here does not need to be documented in depth, only so the reader can recall pertinent events.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?

    • SUCCESSES

      TIER II Incident:       This section should identify specific actions that proved to be successful. Be sure to also include the root cause of each action identified.

      It's important to ensure successes are documented, as this could provide guidance for local education agencies (your own or others) in the future.

      Information here should be documented in a manner that can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?

    • SUCCESSES

      TIER III Incident:       This section should identify specific actions that proved to be successful. Be sure to also include the root cause of each action identified.

      It's important to ensure successes are documented, as this could provide guidance for local education agencies (your own or others) in the future.

      Information here should be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?

    • DETRIMENTAL ELEMENTS

      TIER I Incident:       This section should identify items that could have gone better and why these specific actions proved to be detrimental. Be sure to include the root cause for each action identified.
      ​
      In some instances, it may provide challenging to identify areas to improve. However, it is imperative for improvement within the local education agency and other LEAs within the state that this section be completed.

      Information here does not need to be documented in depth, only so the reader can recall pertinent events.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were not effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?

    • DETRIMENTAL ELEMENTS

      TIER II Incident:       This section should identify items that could have gone better and why these specific actions proved to be detrimental. Be sure to include the root cause for each action identified.
      ​
      In some instances, it may provide challenging to identify areas to improve. However, it is imperative for improvement within the local education agency and other LEAs within the state that this section be completed.

      Information here should be documented in a manner that can be understood by readers within the local education agency.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were not effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?

    • DETRIMENTAL ELEMENTS

      TIER III Incident:       This section should identify items that could have gone better and why these specific actions proved to be detrimental. Be sure to include the root cause for each action identified.
      ​
      In some instances, it may provide challenging to identify areas to improve. However, it is imperative for improvement within the local education agency and other LEAs within the state that this section be completed.

      Information here should be covered in detail. If times are known, they should be included. This will be used to provide information to the Governor and General Assembly.

      Items to consider here may include, but are not limited to:

      • The degree to which school personnel practiced/rehearsed emergency response procedures
      • School personnel's knowledge and awareness of emergency operating procedures
      • The degree to which school personnel had communicated and coordinated previous emergency drills with local emergency responders
      • Students and parents' knowledge of emergency operating procedures
      • What specific actions taken in the emergency response to this incident were not effective in mitigating harm (physical, emotional, behavioral, etc.)?
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    • LESSONS LEARNED

      In this section, consider lessons that are specific to the location (school) being reviewed, as well as how those lessons might be applied to all schools within your educational agency.

      Lessons learned should be communicated clearly, in a way that allows individuals who have not participated in the after-action review meeting (and who may or may not be familiar with this particular event) to clearly understand and react to the information you provide.

      Be thorough in your thinking and response. These lessons learned can be used to improval all local education agencies.

      Feel free to use paragraphs, bullets, or both to capture pertinent information.

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    • Thank you for taking the time to provide this information, thought, and analysis. Rest assured that no matter the scale of your incident, the response you've provided will help improve school safety.

      We appreciate your contribution!

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