WSU to test alert system today

An+emergency+notification+system+pole+placed+%C2%A0above+the+Holland+and+Terrell+Library.

An emergency notification system pole placed  above the Holland and Terrell Library.

From staff reports

The WSU Office of Emergency Management will test the WSUAlert System with messages, phone calls and sirens today at 12:05 p.m.

The office has tested the system every semester for about 10 years and used it in real emergency situations three times over the summer: twice for power outages and once for a hazardous material incident.

Faculty, staff, students, parents and anyone else signed up for alerts will be notified by phone or email. People on campus will not have to subscribe to be aware of the test – the sirens will make it apparent.

Subscribers to the alerts can select their preferred mechanism of notification on their myWSU portal. Emergency Management Director Michael Gaffney said the office expects to add banners on campus desktops as well as messages through campus landline telephones by next semester.

“We have several components that we use in conjunction with each other,” Gaffney said. “The way we use them depends on the emergency.”

He said the office is encouraging people to visit its website in response to an alert because they cannot push out all the information through text. He also suggested students familiarize themselves with the new “Alert, Assess, Act” emergency response plan.

Between tens of thousands of people and hundreds of buildings, the WSUAlert System cannot send specific instructions to everyone, Gaffney said. They provide the information they can, but it is ultimately up to individuals to assess their own situation and act. Gaffney advised noting the surroundings and exits when entering a new building.

Gaffney has been director of Emergency Management for five years and said he has seen the process improve over the years. The office now has one full-time employee and four contributors from other offices coordinating the alert system. During tests, they have one person handle the entire alert so they are prepared for situations where they are not all readily available.

Gaffney said WSU has also streamlined emergency management by contracting internally. At most universities, he said, emergency management is another public safety office. WSU has organized suitable alert services for no more than it would cost to hire a single individual.

Emergency procedures and planning resources are available on the Office of Emergency Management’s website.

Reporting By Forrest Holt