The University of Colorado at Boulder has a long-established Emergency Response Plan to guide the campus in the event of a major campus emergency, according to CU Police Chief Joe Roy.
"CU-Boulder has long recognized the importance of emergency planning and coordination among campus departments should a campuswide emergency occur such as the tragic incident this week at Virginia Tech," said Roy.
CU-Boulder's Emergency Management Operations Group, or EMOG, was formed in 1994 to improve campus emergency response. In 1998 the position of emergency management and planning coordinator was created and is now held by Sylvia Dane. Also that year, the campus Policy Group was created to provide administrative support during campus emergencies. The Policy Group includes the CU-Boulder chancellor and vice chancellors.
If a major emergency situation occurred at CU-Boulder, Roy said the university would establish an Incident Command Center to coordinate the university's response.
University Police and campus Emergency Management staff also would employ National Incident Management System (NIMS) guidelines to manage the event. Developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NIMS provides a common protocol for incident management by emergency responders and emphasizes preparedness and mutual aid systems, among other goals.
In addition to CU-Boulder's Incident Command Center response, EMOG and the Policy Group would coordinate the campus's overarching response to an event, Roy said. In cases of smaller incidents that occur on campus throughout the year, a less extensive version of Incident Command activation occurs, as it did in July 2006 when a small fire occurred in the Engineering Center on campus.
CU-Boulder's EMOG conducts training exercises for emergency planning throughout the year and participates in exercises conducted by the city of Boulder, Boulder County and the state, Dane said. For example, as part of its long-standing commitment to safety programs, several CU-Boulder emergency responders will be involved in a flood exercise April 23 conducted by the city of Boulder and Boulder County.
CU Police are engaged in ongoing training, said Roy, and have established programs to address potential threats, particularly since the Columbine High School incident in 1999. In keeping with changes to police protocols adopted nationwide since Columbine, the CU Police department has been training its officers in "Rapid Emergency Deployment" (RED) tactics for several years.
RED tactics support quick police response to dangerous situations. CU Police conduct regular training, and employ tactics identical to those used by the Boulder Police and Boulder County Sheriff's departments. If necessary, officers from the agencies can work together using the same techniques.
"We are continually looking for ways to upgrade our procedures, policies and equipment to make our officers better prepared to handle situations we might face, and we regularly work with other local law enforcement agencies to respond to situations," Roy said. "We have agreements in place that allow us to call in reinforcements when necessary, and our officers are available to help in the surrounding community, if needed.
"Notwithstanding what we've done, we recognize that there is a lot to be learned from the Virginia Tech episode. We'll be working to integrate lessons learned into police procedures, and making recommendations regarding adjustments that should be made to campus systems and practices," Roy said.
Highlights of CU-Boulder's emergency response and other safety protocols include:
o CU Police officers are certified under Colorado's Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) requirements. POST certification is mandated for all persons vested with peace officer authority in Colorado. CU Police officers must regularly attend "in-service" training courses that support their development or maintenance of skills and knowledge to perform their duties.
o CU Police are able to remotely activate the electronic locking systems installed on doors of several campus academic and administrative buildings in the event access must be limited for security reasons.
o Facilities Management staff are able to shut down all campus building ventilation systems in the event hazardous chemicals, smoke or other noxious substances are released in buildings.
o CU-Boulder residence halls are locked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for the main entrances of the buildings. Only students who are residents of the halls are permitted access.
o At CU-Boulder, a combination of notification systems can be used in emergencies including Reverse 9-1-1 to campus phones building-by-building or campuswide, a loudspeaker system available in some campus buildings, e-mail notification and Web postings. CU-Boulder can issue Reverse 9-1-1 messages through its membership in the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority, or BRETSA.
For more information on CU-Boulder's emergency response plan, go to , or housing.colorado.edu/.