Physical interventions for special education students in crisis remains a controversial concept. The first minute of a crisis situation represents the most crucial time to prevent injury or the exacerbation of injury. Although preventing violence and escalation of negative emotions is the first step in crisis management, school staff also must be prepared for all possibilities, such as student fights, student assaults, and acts of student self-injury. What are the components of a proactive plan for implementing emergency interventions? What student safeguards should be included? Administrators need to support educational staff acting as first responders, with appropriate initial training, ongoing training, and administrative review. The dangers of failing to respond to crisis situations in a decisive and appropriate manner make this an issue of importance to all schools.