2008 Woodie Awards
Departments prepare for disaster
adam loraine
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: News
(This is the first of a two-part series that examines the capability and resources of the campus in the event of a disaster or emergency situation. The first part explores the roles of campus security and the health center, while the second-appearing in Issue Seven-will cover Thursday Oct. 27's "Disaster Preparedness" presentation and the role of the Fire Sciences department.)
With hurricanes and tropical storms ravaging the south and southeastern areas of the United States, disaster preparedness has become a hot-button issue this Fall for public and private organizations.
Should a catastrophe hit the campus, faculty at Security and the Health Center say they are prepared to follow drilled protocol to help those in need and coolly bring students to safety.
If-and when-a disastrous event hits the campus, the main function of security is to "evacuate as many people as possible," said John Wells, Supervisor of Campus Security.
Whether or not local police and fire departments are asked for help depends on the scope of the disaster, but all campus police officers and facilities staff are trained to evacuate people-of which about 4,000 can be found on an average day-on campus in their designated areas, he said.
A potential impediment to a smooth evacuation is that a large portion of the faculty are part-time, said Sharon Bartels, health services coordinator and the only full-time medically trained employee.
After a catastrophe hits, "it would be tough to figure out who's on campus," she said. Each instructor's "biggest function" in the event of a disaster is to evacuate and account for the students in his or her classroom, but faculty are not contractually obligated to attend District drills that reinforce procedures, said Bartels.
More training for secretaries and other full-time employees could help offset this, she said.
To determine what resources would be necessary to help the proper number of people injured by a disaster, a triage-or three-pronged prioritization of treatment to those at the site-must be performed by officials at the scene, Wells said.
With hurricanes and tropical storms ravaging the south and southeastern areas of the United States, disaster preparedness has become a hot-button issue this Fall for public and private organizations.
Should a catastrophe hit the campus, faculty at Security and the Health Center say they are prepared to follow drilled protocol to help those in need and coolly bring students to safety.
If-and when-a disastrous event hits the campus, the main function of security is to "evacuate as many people as possible," said John Wells, Supervisor of Campus Security.
Whether or not local police and fire departments are asked for help depends on the scope of the disaster, but all campus police officers and facilities staff are trained to evacuate people-of which about 4,000 can be found on an average day-on campus in their designated areas, he said.
A potential impediment to a smooth evacuation is that a large portion of the faculty are part-time, said Sharon Bartels, health services coordinator and the only full-time medically trained employee.
After a catastrophe hits, "it would be tough to figure out who's on campus," she said. Each instructor's "biggest function" in the event of a disaster is to evacuate and account for the students in his or her classroom, but faculty are not contractually obligated to attend District drills that reinforce procedures, said Bartels.
More training for secretaries and other full-time employees could help offset this, she said.
To determine what resources would be necessary to help the proper number of people injured by a disaster, a triage-or three-pronged prioritization of treatment to those at the site-must be performed by officials at the scene, Wells said.