Emergency response plans receive an upgrade

Test run of new system to occur on Friday morning

April 1, 2009
By Greta Myers
Staff Writer

A Public Address System at UIS that will notify the campus community of emergency situations is slated to be broadcast-ready later in the spring semester.

“It’s not that we don’t already have plans,” said UIS’ Director of Public Relations Cheryl Peck of the new notification system. “This will enhance them.”

The system will allow emergency messages to be broadcast in most classrooms and offices through 900 phones with IP (internet protocol) capabilities and through 17 outdoor speakers that will be set up across campus. 

“We are always trying to think up ways to make this campus safer,” Peck said.

The system will be tested for the first time on Friday, between 10:30-10:45 AM.  During the trial run, a siren, lasting less than 30 seconds, will follow a short announcement of the test.  UIS Police Officers will be stationed around campus during the drill to check if the speakers are heard throughout the campus, said UIS Police Chief Don Mitchell.

Currently, an emergency notification system is available to students, staff, and faculty. Those registered for the notifications will receive text messages of an emergency through their cell phones, email, PDA, or smart phones such as Blackberrys and iPhone.  

When an emergency text message comes in it would include the subject line: “Emergency!” A short instruction on what to do would be followed by where to get more information as the emergency developed.

Only the Chancellor or Provost, the Chief of Police, and the UIS President or their designees are allowed to issue alerts on the Emergency Notification System.  Students who wish to be notified of threats via this system can register at https://emergency.uis.edu. 

Since being incorporated in January 2008, no occasion has yet warranted the use of the Emergency Notification System, which is reserved for “imminent threats.”

An imminent threat, Peck said, would not include something like a tornado warning, for example.  It would mean when a tornado is bearing down on campus.

Though not an “imminent threat,” a tornado sighted in the Springfield area prompted the campus police department to send a mass email warning of the severe weather in early March. After the tornado sirens went off, RAs in resident halls used their PAs to instruct students to go to the bottom floor of their buildings, wrote Director of Housing John Ringle in an email.

The safe location on campus during severe weather varies by location.  For example, East Campus apartment residents are advised to seek shelter in the PAC concourse or “tunnels” during a tornado watch.  To find out the safest place to be in threatening weather, campus residents should check with the RAs assigned to their building. Students are instructed to remain in these areas until the campus police give an “all clear."