QRG Generation Overview
What is QRG Generation?
Quick Reference Guides (QRGs) are concise, role-specific instruction cards that tell people exactly what to do before, during, and after an emergency. Instead of reading through lengthy Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs), a teacher can quickly see "Teacher - Fire Safety" and know their specific responsibilities.
The QRG Generation system automatically creates these guides by reading your completed EOP annexes and generating personalized instructions for each role in your organization.
Key Benefit: One EOP can generate dozens of role-specific QRGs automatically, saving hours of manual documentation work while ensuring consistency.
How It Works (The Simple Version)
Point the system at a completed Emergency Operation Plan that has annex forms filled out.
The system fetches all the annex forms (Fire Safety, Evacuation, Lockdown, etc.) from your EOP.
For each annex, the AI:
- Classifies what type of emergency it covers
- Identifies which roles are mentioned (Teachers, Administrators, etc.)
- Matches those roles to your organization's official role list
- Generates specific before/during/after instructions for each role
The generated QRGs are automatically saved to your K12 platform, ready for distribution.
What You Need to Start
Prerequisites
An Emergency Operation Plan with at least one annex form that has content filled in
Your organization's role tags must be set up in the K12 IAM system (Teachers, Administrators, etc.)
QRGs can only be saved to FACILITY-type organizations, not DISTRICT-level
The EOP must have a published snapshot (the "official" version of the plan)
What Makes a Good Input
| ✅ Good for QRG Generation | ❌ Won't Work Well |
|---|---|
| Annex with detailed procedures | Empty annex forms |
| Clear role mentions ("Teachers should...") | Generic instructions with no role specificity |
| Completed forms with status "COMPLETED" | Forms still "IN_PROGRESS" with no content |
| Specific actions and steps | Only introductory text, no procedures |
The Generation Process
Step 1: Classification
The system first determines what type of emergency each annex covers:
Emergency/Hazard Types:
- Fire
- Severe Weather
- Active Assailant
- Hazardous Materials
- Earthquake
- Bomb Threat
- And more...
Functional Types:
- Evacuation
- Lockdown
- Shelter-in-Place
- Family Reunification
- Recovery
The system automatically detects the category from your form content - you don't need to tag or label your annexes.
Step 2: Group Extraction
The AI reads through your annex content and identifies all the groups/roles mentioned:
Example from your form:
"Teachers should lead students to the assembly point. Administrators coordinate with emergency services. Support Staff assists with student accounting."
Extracted groups: Teachers, Administrators, Support Staff
Step 3: Role Mapping
The extracted group names are matched to your organization's official role tags:
| Form Text | → | Your Role Tag |
|---|---|---|
| "Teachers" | → | Teacher (role-id-123) |
| "Building Manager" | → | Facilities Staff (role-id-456) |
| "Front Office" | → | Administrative Assistant (role-id-789) |
Important: The system only matches to roles that are assigned to your specific EOP. If a role isn't in your EOP's configuration, it won't be used - this is by design to ensure QRGs only go to relevant personnel.
Step 4: QRG Content Generation
For each matched role, the AI generates a complete QRG with three sections:
Example: Fire Safety - Teacher QRG
Before (Preparation):
- Know your primary and secondary evacuation routes
- Verify fire extinguisher locations in your area
- Review student roster for accountability purposes
During (Response):
- Alert students calmly and begin evacuation
- Lead students to designated assembly point via nearest safe exit
- Bring class roster for student accounting
After (Recovery):
- Account for all students using your roster
- Report any missing students to the Incident Commander immediately
- Await further instructions before returning to building
Understanding the Output
What Gets Created
For a typical EOP with 5 annexes and 4 roles, you might get:
Fire Safety Annex → 4 QRGs (Teacher, Admin, Support Staff, Custodian)
Evacuation Annex → 4 QRGs (Teacher, Admin, Support Staff, Custodian)
Lockdown Annex → 4 QRGs (Teacher, Admin, Support Staff, Custodian)
...
Total: ~20 QRGs from one generation request
Status Tracking
You can check the status of your generation request:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
accepted | Request received and queued |
processing | AI is actively working on your annexes |
SUCCESS | All QRGs generated successfully |
ERROR | Something went wrong (see error details) |
When Things Go Wrong
The system provides clear feedback when issues occur:
Empty Form Content
Problem: An annex form has no content filled in.
Solution: Complete the annex form in your EOP before running generation.
What happens: That specific annex is skipped, but other annexes still process normally.
No Roles Matched
Problem: The AI found groups in the text but couldn't match them to your role tags.
Solution: Check that your EOP has role tags configured. The QRG will still be generated but won't be assigned to any roles.
Organization Type Mismatch
Problem: Trying to save QRGs to a DISTRICT organization.
Solution: QRGs must be saved to FACILITY organizations. Contact your administrator if you need to change your organization setup.
Integration with Your Workflow
API Flow (For Developers)
The system uses an asynchronous pattern:
1. POST /kickoff → Returns requestId (immediate)
2. GET /status → Check if still processing
3. GET /result → Retrieve generated QRGs when done
This allows large EOPs to process without timeout issues.
Typical Timeline
| EOP Size | Annexes | Expected Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 1-3 annexes | 30 seconds - 1 minute |
| Medium | 4-8 annexes | 1-3 minutes |
| Large | 10+ annexes | 3-5 minutes |
Generation time depends on:
- Number of annexes
- Amount of content in each annex
- Number of roles to generate QRGs for
- Current AI service load
Data & Privacy
What Data Is Used
- EOP content: Annex form text is sent to Azure AI for processing
- Role information: Your organization's role names (not personal data)
- Organization context: Organization name and ID for saving QRGs
What Is Stored
- Request tracking: Who requested, when, status
- Annex processing: Which annexes were processed, any errors
- Generated content: The QRG text that was created
- AI call logs: Debugging information (prompts, responses, timing)
Data Retention
All generation records are stored for auditing and debugging purposes. Contact your administrator for data retention policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit the generated QRGs?
Yes! Generated QRGs are starting points. You can edit them through the QRG Editing tools or directly in the K12 platform.
What if my annex uses different terminology?
The AI is trained to understand various ways of describing roles and procedures. "Instructors," "Faculty," and "Teachers" will all typically map to your Teacher role.
Can I regenerate QRGs if I update my EOP?
Yes, you can run generation again with the same EOP. New QRGs will be created (existing ones are not automatically updated).
Why did some annexes get skipped?
Annexes are skipped when they have no meaningful content. Check that the annex form is completed and saved in your EOP.
How do I see detailed errors?
The result response includes an errors array with specific messages. For technical debugging, database tables track every processing step.