Churches Conduct Safety Drills Sponsored by ARM

Silver Spring, Md.  April 27, 2016 –The first ever annual Safety Sabbath event saw a signup of more than 280 registrants and received more than 8,000 page views of the entire Safety Sabbath website. Of the three drills offered—fire, missing child and active shooter—the Active Shooter Drill page received the most views, reaching more than 2,500 views at the time this article was written.
 
Safety Sabbath was created by Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) to promote safety in church congregations through training resources and safety drills held annually on the fourth Sabbath in March.
 
Here is what a few survey respondents had to say about Safety Sabbath 2016:
 
“Without [the resources] we couldn’t have been successful in coordinating the drill.”
 
“I found the website helpful. It was a successful drill! We will conduct the missing child and active shooter later this year and conduct another fire drill.”
 
“[The resources] were very informative with good suggestions and outlines on how to conduct the drills. I liked the information shared week by week from ARM.”
 
“The South Bahamas Conference in Atlantic Caribbean Union was happy to be a part of this initiative. We are preparing all our churches to participate next year.”
 
According to Safety Sabbath participants surveyed after the event, 91 percent conducted a Fire Drill. Thirty-four percent of churches that registered are located in the southeastern portion of the United States.
 
The official 2017 Safety Sabbath date is Saturday, March 25, 2017, although churches are welcome to conduct emergency drills throughout the month of March. Survey respondents suggested the following as potential drills for 2017: severe weather, earthquakes and tornados.
 
Safety Sabbath 2016 was sponsored by Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) and supported by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD) and General Conference Youth Ministries Department.
 
For more resources on emergency drills and the Safety Sabbath campaign, visit SafetySabbath.com.