Two 130-decibel emergency sirens
will blast MCV and Monroe Park
campuses for their first test Wednesday,
Sept. 19.
The trial run, scheduled for noon, will
test the sirens, along with new digital
signs, a revamped mass e-mail network
and a new emergency text-messaging
system.
The sirens only will be used in lifethreatening
situations that could affect
either campus, said Pamela Lepley,
director of University News Services.
“It’s never going to be used for weather
unless it’s a tornado,” Lepley said. “In the
last five or six years, we couldn’t think
of an instance where it would have been
appropriate to use the siren.”
When a siren sounds, students and faculty
are supposed to stay inside buildings
and look to digital signs, text messages
or e-mails for more information.
Lepley said that if for some reason
electronic communication is unavailable,
designated people, or “runners,” will
make rounds through the campus to
relay pertinent information.
“There may be an instance where
it’s ‘get the heck out of the building,’ ”
Lepley said.
The rotating sirens, although most
intense within a half-mile radius, are
supposed to be audible up to a mile
away. One horn is located on top of the
Lyons Building at MCV, and the other
is stationed on top of the James Branch
Cabell Library.
Test information has been posted on
the VCU Alert Web site, along with mass
e-mails sent to the VCU community.
Lepley said resources ranging from
Facebook.com to snail mail are being
used to warn people about the test.
“We’re sending postcards and fl iers
to all the businesses and residences in
those radii,” Lepley said. “We’re putting
posters and fliers in all our parking decks
to make sure we’re getting to students
who don’t live on campus, because we’re
also posting information in dorms.”
University librarian John Ulmschneider
hopes students and staff will
not misinterpret the siren and evacuate
Cabell.
“The intent of the siren is to say
‘seek more information,’ simple as that,”
Ulmschneider said. “The test protocol
is designed to see if it will work. Will
people know to seek more information,
(or) will they hear the alarm and evacuate
the building … which we don’t want
them to do?”
Although the Virginia Tech shootings
this past April caused more public concern
with university safety, Lepley said,
the sirens and text-messaging system
were already in development when the
attack occurred.
“We already had it scheduled that
we were going to start text messaging
this fall, and the digital signage and
the screens were going up around both
campuses,” she said.
The speed of the mass e-mail system
also has been improved, she said.
“It used to take four or fi ve hours, but
now we think it’ll probably take about
a half an hour. This test is going to tell
us a lot,” Lepley said.
Ulmschneider said library staff raised
concerns about the decibel level of the
siren placed on the roof of Cabell.
“The sound radiates out, not down,”
Ulmschneider said, noting that the length
of the siren and the buffer between the
roof and the fourth fl oor will protect
students and staff. “Because it goes out,
it’s not going to have a painful impact
on anyone in the building.”
Catherine MacDonald, a 19-year-old
sophomore, who lives within sight of the
siren on top of Cabell, said the sound
will be more useful in an emergency
than the text messages.
“I think it’s a good measure because
they have that new text-messaging thing.
But I don’t even get cell-phone reception
in my classes anyway,” MacDonald said.
“No one can miss a really loud siren.”
By last week, 9,000 people had signed
up for the text-message alerts, Lepley
said. She hopes the number will increase
after Wednesday’s test.
Students who miss the alert notices
might be caught off guard by the siren,
Ulmschneider said, but that scenario
could prove helpful.
“I think a lot of people are going to
be confused, but that’s OK too,” he said.
“I guarantee they won’t be confused the
second time.”
A second test is scheduled in October,
with tests occurring monthly on a regular
schedule.
“The once-a-month tests will only
be for 15 seconds and at a much lower
pitch,” Lepley said. “But we’re praying
it’s not anything we ever need to use in
a real emergency.”
More information can be found at
http://vcu.edu/alert/, including information
on how to sign up for the text messaging
system and an MP3 sample
of the siren.
—
Decibel level
reference:
60-85 Vacuum cleaner
80 Manual tools
110 Power saw
130 Jackhammer
Source: King County,
Washington Government