Virginia Tech Tragedy is Reminder of the Need for Preparedness

Associate Vice President Jonathan Sawyer and Director of Public Safety Thomasine Johnson talk about CUA’s emergency response plan at a safety roundtable on April 27.

The April 16 massacre of 32 people at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University campus was a stark reminder of the importance of emergency preparedness by all members of a community.

In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, conversations at CUA were dominated by concern for those affected by the tragedy and sorrow for the victims and their families. But, as the campus went on a heightened state of alert, discussions turned quickly to how CUA would respond if a similar crisis were to strike closer to home.

The Division of Student Life held a safety roundtable meeting on April 27 in the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center. Open to all members of the CUA community, the meeting reinforced important campus safety procedures.

Thomasine Johnson, director of the Department of Public Safety, strongly urged those who attended the meeting to become familiar with the CUA emergency response plan and, in particular, the two types of emergency scenarios. 

“Members of the CUA community should take the time to learn about the plan,” advised Johnson. “They should know the difference between an evacuation emergency and a shelter-in-place emergency. That’s critical.”

Catholic University’s emergency response plan is outlined briefly on
“CUA Emergency Policy” posters that are located near exits and in hallways and common areas of every building on campus. The emergency response plan is spelled out in greater detail on the Safety First page: http://www.cua.edu/safety/.

CUA will notify the campus community of an emergency evacuation in the event of a fire, a chemical spill or other situations that would endanger faculty, staff and students if they stayed inside university buildings.

In the event of a fire, the proper procedure is to sound the fire alarm. For other evacuation emergencies, individuals are advised to call the Department of Public Safety at ext. 5111. They should leave the building from the closest available exit. The elevator should not be used.

The shootings at Virginia Tech are an example of a shelter-in-place emergency — a situation that would put people in danger if they were to leave their buildings.

In a case like that, members of the CUA community are advised to stay inside unless a fire alarm sounds or they receive instructions from a CUA official to leave the building. If someone is outside, they should seek shelter inside a building. No one should remain outside.

Ryan Reilly, a sophomore media studies major who reports for The Tower, asks a question at the meeting at the Pryzbyla Center.

Students should follow instructions from their resident assistants; staff and faculty should follow instructions from their building watch captain.

CUA’s Campus Watch Program, established in the early 1990s, relies on volunteer watch captains who are assigned to a building, floor or department and act as liaisons between Public Safety and the employees working in their area.

In the event of an emergency, watch captains would be expected to disseminate information, to let public safety officers know if anyone is missing and to help maintain calm.

As part of the updates to Catholic University’s emergency response plan, members of the CUA community will be asked to provide accurate contact information for both their land-line and cell phones. Cell phone numbers will be particularly critical as CUA implements one of its new emergency responses: instant text messaging.

In addition, CUA has authorized the use of sirens to immediately alert the campus community and others to imminent danger. Even before the Virginia Tech shootings, CUA’s Department of Public Safety had been negotiating a contract to upgrade the emergency phone kiosks on campus; as part of the upgrade, sirens and “smart cameras” will be installed in the kiosks.

Along with text messages and sirens, CUA will continue to rely on its already existing methods to get the word out about emergencies: blast campus e-mails; news updates at www.cua.edu and the Safety First page; mass messages conveyed through the campus voicemail system and building watch captains.

Additional information about upcoming safety roundtable meetings in August and September for faculty, staff and students will be publicized in This Week @ CUA, www.cua.edu, and on the Safety First page.

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