University emergency response plan should reassure students
In today’s society we must always be prepared for any situation of disaster and emergency. The past 10 years have proven we should be ready for anything and everything, from active shooters, bombings, natural disasters and much more.
The 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech University, which resulted in 32 dead and 17 wounded, sparked a nationwide urgency to improve emergency procedures on college campuses, including our own.
In a small town like Vermillion, it seems unlikely any of these situations would occur, yet the University of South Dakota is preparing itself as best it can if they were to happen — as they should be.
USD has created an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) committee that has been dedicated to not only consistently being prepared, but also making improvements, if need be, to its Emergency Operations Plan.
Tena Haraldson, director of communications at USD, said President James Abbott is very dedicated to the EOP committee.
Experts are regularly brought in to lead the EOP committee in simulated exercises and scenarios to fully prepare for situations. Further, the committee holds an annual training day to brush up on these scenarios. For example, in the past the committee has prepared for things such as the Avian flu, active shooters and fires.
In all the years the EOP has been implemented at USD, it has only been activated twice — once in 2011 when the Missouri River flooded and again in 2013 when Coyote Village had a pipe burst.
Although the staff and faculty are prepared, the students have every opportunity to prepare for such situations on their own.
By simply clicking on the “Campus” tab on the USD portal, a student will find emergency guidelines, procedures, alert systems and contact information.
The five major emergency guidelines in the EOP are for an active shooter, a bomb threat, a fire, a tornado and hazardous materials. The site has information for other procedures and contacts listed to gain more information as needed.
Within the Emergency Operations Plan students will find exactly what to do in an emergency. The fact that the university already has plans in place should stand as solid evidence that students and their safety are a top priority.
In other words, students should feel safer knowing our university is one step ahead of an emergency.
Students may believe situations such as a bombing on campus will never happen. However, one can have piece of mind knowing the university is fully prepared for any situation to the best of its ability.
As residents of the USD community, we should feel blessed we haven’t had to use emergency plans, despite there being a necessity for the EOP. As students at USD, we should feel safe knowing if something were to ever happen the university is as prepared as it can be.
