My Background

1. Emergency Preparedness & Shelter-In-Place (SIP) Procedures In AcademiaBrian Hansen, Hamilton College

2. My Background

3. My Disclaimer (#1) • I DO NOT claim to be the ultimate subject matter expert on all things “emergency preparedness” related!! • In fact… • But for sure hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20 • Especially in our sector, right?

4. My Disclaimer (#2) • Today’s talk is “sector specific” to colleges and universities… • …using the “Hamilton College” model • Other sectors (especially K-12) use terms that can be confusing: • Lockdown, Lock-In, Lock-Out, etc. • But I will discuss this confusion and our strategy to keep it as simple as possible

5. Today’s Agenda • Short history of emergency mgmt. • Compliance drivers • Evacuation procedures • Shelter-in-place procedures

6. #1—Emergency Management Transformation Over The Last 17+/- Years…

7. Y2K (the “fake” emergency) • Terrorism (from abroad and homegrown) in 2001 • Fire safety inspections in 2003 (due to the Seton Hall fire in 2000) • Natural disasters in 2004 and 2005 (tsunamis and Hurricane Katrina) • Pandemic Influenza (H5N1) in 2006 • Virginia Tech active shooter in 2007—the game changer!!

8. How This History Shaped Emergency Preparedness At Hamilton & Beyond • Pre VT/Panflu, EP was a departmental issue more concerned with regulatory compliance: • EPA, OSHA, Fire Code, etc. • Hamilton’s “incident commander” was our President (our highest positional authority) • Made me cringe—positional “genuflection” I call it!!

9. How This History Shaped Emergency Preparedness At Hamilton & Beyond • Post VT/Panflu, all of academia (Hamilton included) realized this model was ineffective… • …and most schools have now shifted over to the all-hazards NIMS/ICS system

10. #2—Compliance Drivers…

11. Make No Mistake… • …despite what I just said, compliance drivers are still VITAL with how we operate each day • It’s our institutional response mechanisms that have migrated toward the NIMS/ICS model • The big compliance drivers in academia are as follows…

12. EPA Regulations • As per various EPA regulations, we are obligated to: • Ensure our personnel are familiar with emergency procedures relevant to their responsibilities during normal facility operations and foreseeable emergencies

13. OSHA/Fire Code Regulations • As per various OSHA or NYS Fire Code regulations, we are obligated to: • Develop Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for fires and other emergencies that may occur in the workplace

14. CLERY • And as per Clery, we are obligated to: • Develop mechanisms for the timely notification of our communities regarding threats to which they may be exposed • Conduct drills on at least an annual basis

15. At Hamilton We Have A 5-Part EP Compliance Strategy • #1—Lots of classroom training • For new hires (similar to what we are discussing today) • RA’s • And for students and employees in certain higher risk programs (science labs and art studios)

16. At Hamilton We Have A 5-Part EP Compliance Strategy • #2—15 detailed EAP’s on our website

17. At Hamilton We Have A 5-Part EP Compliance Strategy • #3—fire safety plans for all occupied structures

18. At Hamilton We Have A 5-Part EP Compliance Strategy • #4—a robust emergency communication strategy: • Reverse 911 system (Blackboard Connect) • Classroom speakers • Outdoor warning sirens

19. At Hamilton We Have A 5-Part EP Compliance Strategy • #5—and we DRILL extensively! • 1 mass casualty incident • 1 dorm fire incident • 5 active shooter/hostage incidents • 1 weather related incident • “Shelter-in-place” drills: • Feb. ‘14, Oct. ‘15, Oct. ‘16

20. #3—Evacuation ProceduresIn The Interests Of Time…

21. Couple Points On Evacuation Issues • 1—Most campus emergencies (and most of Hamilton’s EAP’s)… • …initiate evacuation procedures, for which our fire safety plans are critical • 2—Be mindful that the above creates a “safety vs. security” paradox • Building/fire codes mandate easy exiting, which therefore makes many of the same spaces difficult to secure!!

22. #4—Shelter-In-Place (SIP) Procedures…

23. SIP Procedures • For some emergency incident types: • Hazardous weather (tornado) • Airborne environmental release (rail car spill) • Law enforcement emergency (active shooter) • …the OPPOSITE of an evacuation is called for • Hamilton uses the SIP terminology in a few EAP’s to initiate such an action

24. What SIP IS and IS NOT • SIP IS a broad tactical and situationally dependent strategy to keep people indoors and protected • Here is the guidance Hamilton provides in its EAP that focuses on the situational nature of an SIP order…

26. What SIP IS and IS NOT • SIP IS NOTnot always that timely • We’ll discuss this more in a minute • SIP IS NOTa lockdown, in part because most of our sector can’t do it: • K-12 sector is mostly access secured or controlled—higher ed is NOT • And perhaps most importantly, SIP IS NOT what you do if you hear “shots fired” or are engaged by an active shooter

27. What SIP IS and IS NOT • Rather, you RUN, HIDE, FIGHTas per this VIDEO!!! • And this VIDEOtoo…

28. The Practical Differences Between SIP & Run, Hide, Fight • Feb 2006 line of duty murder of New Hartford police officer Joe Corr • April 2015 bomb threat and active shooter threat at Hamilton College

29. Other Lessons Learned From Hamilton’s SIP Experiences • We always train our community to think of Columbine… • If law enforcement has been told we’re under an SIP order, they assume: • Our people are actually staying put, and • An orderly evacuation of people in a “hands-up” manner will follow

30. Other Lessons Learned From Hamilton’s SIP Experiences • But we know that is not reality… • Students and employees the like will make their own decisions (risk based or not) on whether to stay or flee—accept it • But it remains vital to train to certain expectations, and here’s how we sum it up…

31. Other Lessons Learned From Hamilton’s SIP Experiences • Having employees/students remain sheltered-in-place enables internal/external emergency responders to do their jobs! • Employees, especially those in positions of authority (i.e. teaching a class—in locoparentis) need to model appropriate behavior • Avoids diversion of resources to account for fleeing personnel • Minimizes potential traffic accidents that could cause bottlenecks on our roads

32. Other Lessons Learned From Hamilton’s SIP Experiences • The “lockable classroom door” debate: • As discussed, pits fire code against security • Further “muddied” by aesthetics/optics and the desire for 100% access 100% of the time • Locked doors have resulted in a few very bad outcomes…

33. Wrap Up/Final Points • Heighten your own awareness (and that of your subordinates) in institutional procedures for areas where you have responsibility • And/or, place pressure upwards (to the extent you can) to develop the procedures everyone at your schools should follow

34. Wrap Up/Final Points • Situational awareness is ESSENTIAL!!! • But internal/external emergency responders make decisions based upon available information at the time, which: • May not always be available to you, and • Will be measured in an incident’s aftermath (as noted) with 20/20 hindsight

35. Wrap Up/Final Points • Great recent comment by Russel Honore (seen here with Thad Allen from the Katrina response) in the wake of Maria/Puerto Rico… • Paraphrased: “Emergency response is often about figuring out what rules you need to break!!”

36. Wrap Up/Final Points • And regarding the most serious law enforcement (active shooter) threats… • …this post-Sandy Hook investigation quote “hits the nail on the head” regarding the collective challenges before us…

37. As we have seen in numerous past school shootings, what saves lives in one situation can result in death in another slightly different situation. This provides further evidence that there is no simple/clear-cut “Stop, Drop and Roll” type of approach for active shooter situations. 

38. Questions??Thank You!!!

39. Local Incidents Making The News • Our KJ incident • April 2015 • Our “nerf gun” incident • October 2015 • Colgate’s very recent “glue gun” incident • May 2017