The US Department of Homeland Security released a new website dedicated to Active Shooter Preparedness.  The site is located at the following link:  http://www.dhs.gov/activeshooter .

The purpose and a list of resources currently included on the site are listed below:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aims to enhance preparedness through a ”whole community” approach by providing training, products, and resources to a broad range of stakeholders on issues such as active shooter awareness, incident response, and workplace violence. In many cases, there is no pattern or method to the selection of victims by an active shooter, and these situations are by their very nature are unpredictable and evolve quickly. DHS offers free courses, materials, and workshops to better prepare you to deal with an active shooter situation and to raise awareness of behaviors that represent pre-incident indicators and characteristics of active shooters.

References in the website include:

Active Shooter: What Can You Do Course

Active Shooter Webinar

Active Shooter Workshop Series

Active Shooter: How to Respond Resource Materials

Options for Consideration Active Shooter Training Video

U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Active Shooter Related Research

Active Shooter Resources for Law Enforcement and Trainers: Request for Access to Joint Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Portal the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The campus conducted an active shooter exercise on Monday 13 May to help key personnel be more prepared for potential emergencies.  While campus police conducted realistic hands on training with other local law enforcement agencies at Stokely Athletic Center, university employees assigned to the Emergency Response Team stood up the Emergency Operations Center and simulated supporting the response and recovery efforts for such an incident.  The exercise simulated everything from calls from concerned parents to the UTK website being overloaded with traffic.  Participants got a realistic taste of the chaos that a flood of activity and information causes in a major emergency.  While the active shooter scenario drove the exercise, the experience of how to function in an Emergency Operations Center, manage information, and prioritize effort is applicable to all hazards the campus faces.

The Emergency Operations Center in action

In addition to the boots on the ground law enforcement training, the campus also used the exercise as an opportunity to stand up and test two key emergency communications capabilities.  The Emergency Call Center managed by the Office of Information Technology and staffed by volunteers from both the UT System and Knoxville campus tested their ability activate and be ready to receive calls and UTPD and the UT Amateur Radio Club set up and operationally tested our HAM radio capability.

 Officers from different departments train to respond to an active shooter as one team

A seminar for East Tennessee colleges and universities providing training and guidelines for reacting and responding to an active shooter situation will be webcast live from the University of Tennessee on May 16, 2013, from 10:00am until 2:00pm (with a break for lunch). Topics to be covered include:

• Current trends and tactics used by active shooter suspects
• Best practices, tactics, and techniques for reacting to an active shooter
• What to expect from the police response to an active shooter
• Role of behavioral threat assessment in deterring workplace violence

John Rose, President of Holston International Training and Consulting, is the facilitator for the seminar.  John served in local law enforcement for over 18 years, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.  He holds a M.A. in Criminal Justice and Criminology from East Tennessee State University where he is an Adjunct Faculty member and instructs classes in Counter Terrorism and Workplace Violence Prevention.

To participate click on this link:  http://sf.ites.utk.edu/utk/Play/fd32ca5fbe9b43cba3da77f0aa7f60371d

The most senior leadership of the university dedicated nearly two days of their busy schedules to focus on emergency preparedness for the campus.  The entire Chancellor’s Cabinet and other campus administrators assigned to the emergency response team attended a two day FEMA executive seminar on campus emergencies.  Their participation and enthusiasm is a clear indication that the safety and security of our campus is a top priority to The University of Tennessee. The course included threat assessment, integrated response using the National Incident Management System, crisis communication, recovering from emergencies, and scenario based exercises.    It was a great opportunity to discuss the different functions that need to work seamlessly and look for areas of improvement in our current efforts.

A group of students chose to take a look at how the campus prepares to address potential emergencies on campus for an assignment in their Journalism 422 class.  Mustapha Moussa, Deborah Ince, and Grace Van Dyke created a mini documentary looking at different aspects and some of the many departments involved in providing a safe and secure campus.  Check it out on YouTube.

The National Weather Service has recognized the University of Tennessee Knoxville for improving the timeliness and effectiveness of hazardous weather warning for the campus and increasing communication and preparedness by renewing our Storm Ready designation.  This designation is a validation of the efforts to improve awareness and plans to quickly disseminate information to the campus community.  Emergency Operations Plans, training, and local weather and water monitoring capability are also evaluated as part of the Storm Ready program.

Thanks to diligence and good planning of Dick Fischer and the many volunteers who serve on emergency teams, employees in the university’s Kingston Pike Building held the campus’s first tornado drill yesterday to prepare for the spring storm season. The building houses UT Knoxville’s Office of Information Technology and UT System’s Office of Information Technology Services, both vital resource for the university.

Employees received building-specific training from the campus’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) office to learn more about how to react in the case of a tornado.

In emergencies, seconds matter so it’s important to be prepared and to know in advance how you should react. According to the campus’s Office of Emergency Management, drills provide you with the muscle memory that your brain relies on when reacting to trauma.

Brian Gard, emergency manager for the campus, said the drill was a success and he hopes it will lead to a higher level of vigilance among the campus community.

To see the full article go to http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2013/03/07/oit-employees-tornado-drill/

Posters can be found in buildings to assist the campus community to respond to emergencies.  Look for them near evacuation maps which are generally near exits and elevators.  The posters identify the best available shelter in that building and the evacuation assembly areas.  Being aware of your surroundings is an important safety practice.  Check the posters out in buildings you frequent.

With the New Madrid Seismic Zone in our backyard, over 225,000 Tennesseans will be participating in this regional event.

Interested in participating individually or as a group in this event?  Go to http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/ to learn more about preparing for an earthquake.

Check out these documents for additional information ShakeOut_Recommended_Earthquake_Safety_Actions and ShakeOut_Earthquake_Tips_Disabilities_AFN.

The National Weather Service is predicting severe weather for our area today as a cold front moves through East Tennessee.  NOAA will issue warnings at the county level and the university is monitoring this weather system closely and will issue an alert if the threat includes campus.  See today’s post titled severe weather for further information at http://safety.utk.edu/2013/01/severe-weather/.