Over the last few months, the threat of terrorism has been a reality of daily life. With the start of the war, SMU has devised a plan to follow in case an emergency affects the campus.
The Emergency Management Plan has been developed in order to respond to the needs of the university during a disaster.
In the coming weeks, SMU will hold training and information sessions to explain to faculty, staff and students the procedures that should be followed in the event of an emergency.
“Now that we have created this extensive plan, we need to move it from the shelf to the streets and explain it to the community so that we can all be prepared,” Bill Detwiler, the chair of the Emergency Planning Task Force said.
Since September 11, Detwiler and his committee have been reviewing and reconstructing the university’s emergency plan in order to be better prepared for any disaster.
“Our main objectives have been preparation, response and recovery. Recovery from a major catastrophe depends heavily on the quickness and efficiency of the response, and we want to be as prepared as possible to ensure the safety and well-being of the entire university,” Detwiler said.
In the unlikely case that there is a crisis, SMU has created an Alert Notification System, designed to contact every member of the EPTF with a single phone call.
This innovative system can also alert students, faculty and staff on campus with one call.
If electrical systems are out of service, notification would be by loud speakers positioned throughout campus. In addition, a siren would be sounded Training will be provided on what the various sounds mean.
As part of this new plan, each SMU facility has also been assigned building managers and assistant managers. Building managers are responsible for informing and organizing building occupants to take appropriate action during an emergency, which could include taking shelter within the building or evacuating for assembly elsewhere.
To ensure a quick and safe evacuation of the campus, assembly points have been selected throughout the university.
As part of this evacuation process, a shelter has been created in the basement of the Lloyd All-Sports Center, with the capacity to clothe, feed and sleep both residents and commuting students, as well as all of the faculty and staff for 72 hours.
Another important part of this plan is the counseling center in the Memorial Health Center. Their aim is to provide students with counseling services to help cope with any hardships they may face.
Although the center provides free counseling during the entire year, they are prepared to increase staff and sessions if the need arises.
“If we see that there is an increased flow of students with counseling needs, we will be more than happy to create group discussion sessions or whatever will help students to deal with the crisis,” Dr. Cathey Soutter, a counseling psychologist at the center said.
Soutter says that although she has not seen an increase in students, the center is ready to help students in every way they can.
Even though the university is doing everything in its power to maintain a secure environment, students and faculty can also help themselves by logging onto the SMU Emergency Plan Web site at http://www.smu.edu/ready/plan.asp.
The Web site provides the entire emergency plan for the university as well as valuable information and advice on how to make sure people are prepared.
Log onto http://www.ready.gov to see how Texas and the rest of the nation is preparing in case of a terrorist attack.
