2008 Woodie Awards
In case of emergency
Exploring disaster preparedness at SIUE
Holly Meyer
Issue date: 8/17/07 Section: News
In the event of an emergency, the administration has to find an effective way to notify the entire campus community of what is happening.
Recently, Greg Conroy, director of Marketing and Communications, said by the end of the fall semester, the university will be able to notify any member of the university through text messaging.
Students, faculty and staff with e-IDs will be able to sign up for the text messaging notification system. Each person will submit their cell phone numbers to the university.
Conroy said the text messaging will be another part of the civil defense system; notifications will still be posted to the website, sirens will still be sounded, emails will still be sent out and voicemails will still be left on campus phones.
The civil defense system is sounded for a couple of reasons: to notify the university in the event of an attack and during "fairly serious storms," Vanzo said.
At 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month, students will hear the piercing sounds of the civil defense system.
Do not be alarmed, Vanzo said all state facilities are required by law to test the sirens at this time.
Even though the university does not have to, the all-clear signal and the fire alarms are tested at this time.
"It's always a good idea to test these to make sure there are no problems," Vanzo said.
Vanzo said sounding the sirens in the event of an emergency is "a lot more of a judgment call than you might think."
Vanzo said the university wants to make absolutely certain there really is an emergency before sounding the sirens because people need to take the sirens seriously every time.
However, it is important the university notifies campus.
"We don't want to not disrupt everyone when they need to be disrupted," Vanzo said.
Recently, Greg Conroy, director of Marketing and Communications, said by the end of the fall semester, the university will be able to notify any member of the university through text messaging.
Students, faculty and staff with e-IDs will be able to sign up for the text messaging notification system. Each person will submit their cell phone numbers to the university.
Conroy said the text messaging will be another part of the civil defense system; notifications will still be posted to the website, sirens will still be sounded, emails will still be sent out and voicemails will still be left on campus phones.
The civil defense system is sounded for a couple of reasons: to notify the university in the event of an attack and during "fairly serious storms," Vanzo said.
At 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month, students will hear the piercing sounds of the civil defense system.
Do not be alarmed, Vanzo said all state facilities are required by law to test the sirens at this time.
Even though the university does not have to, the all-clear signal and the fire alarms are tested at this time.
"It's always a good idea to test these to make sure there are no problems," Vanzo said.
Vanzo said sounding the sirens in the event of an emergency is "a lot more of a judgment call than you might think."
Vanzo said the university wants to make absolutely certain there really is an emergency before sounding the sirens because people need to take the sirens seriously every time.
However, it is important the university notifies campus.
"We don't want to not disrupt everyone when they need to be disrupted," Vanzo said.
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