Emergency Management on Campus

May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Carol Carey

Clear leadership in an emergency situation can make a difference in life or death. This conviction has driven California State University at Fullerton (CSUF) to merge state-of-the-art technology with sophisticated emergency planning.

The 223-acre campus, with approximately 45,000 students, faculty and staff, is located about 30 miles from Los Angeles, in one of the more densely populated areas of the country. The worldwide spotlight on campus security makes CSUF's multi-faceted, professional approach to emergency management particularly relevant today in the wake of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech in April.

The program includes an internal and external campus-wide public address system and a telephone notification program capable of calling up to six phone numbers per person. Staff members have been trained in nationally recognized emergency management procedures (NIMS/ICS) set by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The school is in the process of upgrading and centralizing video surveillance and access control, as well. Emergency call boxes, a staple on many campuses, provide another layer of protection.

CSUF also has a nationally accredited Police Department (PD) with full law enforcement powers.

Spearheading the security updates at the campus are Emergency Management Coordinator Quentin Frazier and University Police Operations Lieutenant Tom Gehrls. Frazier is certified by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) to train personnel in all levels of NIMS/ICS courses. He has trained university police, environmental safety and health personnel, parking and transportation staff, physical plant employees, and the University's top leadership, the president and vice president.

Campus-wide PA system

Together, Gehrls and Frazier have led a number of security initiatives within the past year, among them new emergency notification procedures and systems. CSUF is using a 4100U Fire Detection and Alarm Platform from SimplexGrinnell, Boca Raton, Fla., which includes digital voice communications. The distributed network system is particularly well-suited for high-rise buildings and multi-building facilities.

Public address speakers are located internally and externally at entrances and exits to 22 campus buildings. They are not presently located at the residence halls. CSUF is primarily a commuter campus, with about 1,200 students living in residence halls, according to Gehrls.

The system is operated out of the University Police Department's dispatch center, which uses a Motorola Centracom Series II dispatch system. Dispatchers speak through microphones in real time across the entire PA system, both internally and externally. The system also allows for tone and siren notification.

Notes Frazier, “We have the ability to put out a tone through this audio system that indicates automatic evacuation. The tone is loud enough to be heard campus-wide, especially through the external speakers. Campus drills have been held so that the community recognizes this tone and knows what to do in event of an evacuation order.”

Speakers are wired to a control point in each campus building, and connections then fan out to control modules in the physical plant and PD dispatch center, where they are wired to an electronic board with each building identified. The system is software-based; computer graphics indicate alarm points. It is connected through CSUF's IT pathways, says Frazier, who adds, “We use a dedicated LAN for the campus police; we also have a WAN that is password-restricted on campus.”

Telephone notification

Along with many campuses across the country, both before and since the Virginia Tech shootings, CSUF has recognized the importance of an emergency notification system that goes beyond the traditional campus e-mail.

“We want to take a layered approach to emergency communications,” says Frazier. “We have recently purchased, and are in the process of implementing a Connect-Ed system by the NTI Group Inc., Sherman Oaks, Calif. The system has the capacity to send up to six phone contacts, including text messages, per person; along with up to four e-mail contacts. We are currently in the process of inputting names and implementing the policy. We're starting with emergency responders, then will go to faculty and staff. We hope to have the students on board by the beginning of the school year this fall.”

The system will be voluntary. “We cannot make it mandatory, but we are making its availability broadly known. We think people will want to sign up. We are asking people to give us their emergency information,” says Frazier.

The NTI Group designs mass notification systems for local, state, regional and federal government agencies that allow users to send time-based notifications to thousands of people in minutes. A three-step process allows users to record a message, select recipients and send the message to recipients' cell, home or work phones; the messages can be received via PDA, e-mail, voice mail, text message or TTY/TTD.

Emergency planning

According to Lt. Gehrls, CSUF has had an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for many years, and currently has a team of 20 to 30 people who report to it in case of an emergency. The team is comprised of individuals from a variety of disciplines; they include medical, mental health, police, physical plant, utility, financial, academic, student affairs, public information, environmental health and safety personnel.

“The idea is for the university to respond collectively,” says Gehrls. “The EOC can be activated any time we choose. We'll have a medical component there, mental health experts. We are able to respond to a particular situation in a coordinated way, with certain individuals designated to report as members of the team. The University Police is in the lead, and we consider support staff representing our infrastructure very important.”

The EOC, explains Gehrls, uses a portable dispatch center, with TV monitors for outside news channels as well as campus video surveillance, and radio communications from various divisions on campus.

Satellite phones, used by the university's president, police chief and other top officials, provide an extra layer of back-up protection should cell phones fail in an emergency, says Gehrls. CSUF uses Qualcomm Globalstar GSP 1600 tri-mode portable satellite phones.

Adherence to national emergency protocols

Standardized policies and procedures, along with clear lines of command are critical in emergencies, and Gehrls emphasizes, “We adhere to all NIMS/ICS protocols. Our personnel have gone through national and state training courses, and we do local and countywide tabletop exercises.”

Frazier adds that these training courses include at least four levels: a basic course geared toward first responders such as police officers, another for supervisory personnel, one for incident managers, and one for supporting field responders. His current focus is the higher level training — the 100 people trained so far have taken the basic NIMS/ICS course.

Mutual aid network

The University Police work closely with Orange County Mutual Aid. “We have signed a contract with the City of Fullerton Police Department and designated them to be the lead investigative unit in the event of a homicide on campus. Our policy is to contact them immediately should a homicide occur,” says Gehrls.

Among the emergency protocols of increased interest and discussion since the Virginia Tech shootings are those related to “active shooters.” Says Gehrls, “Our emergency response includes an active shooter policy and our officers have been given both training and weapons to deal with such an emergency. Officers have AR-15 rifles available to them for use in an active shooter incident, and also carry handguns.”

“Our policy is to locate and actively engage the shooter to try to limit his movements to reduce the number of fatalities and casualties,” says Gehrls, who notes that this is a “post-Columbine” policy. “Before Columbine, during an active shooter incident, campus police would generally secure a building and wait for a special weapons team to arrive. Today, police are trained to respond immediately to such an incident with high-powered weapons,” says Gehrls.

Video surveillance upgrade

CSUF has taken advantage of a recent DHS grant to install a new video surveillance system in the police department and EOC buildings.

“We've put cameras at every exit and entrance to the PD and EOC buildings,” says Gehrls, who explains that about 20 Panasonic cameras were installed at the beginning of 2007. One of the new cameras is the Panasonic WV-CW 964 P/TZ. The Panasonic system is operated by an AS65 server software for global or multiple DVR control, and uses a WV-CU650 system controller. There are also two WJ-HD 316A 5000-gig 16-camera Panasonic DVRs at CSUF and one at its branch campus in Irvine, which offers upper-division and graduate programs. Two Panasonic 42-in. plasma monitors at the Fullerton campus and one at Irvine allow operators to follow the camera activity.

Gehrls is also leading an effort to standardize and centralize video surveillance throughout the campus.

“When the student center adds its new recreation complex, which will include a pool, that area will be wired to the new PD surveillance system. Similarly, our nursing program area will install a new surveillance system that will be routed to the new PD system. My projection is that in the next three to five years, we'll have more than 300 cameras on campus,” says Gehrls.

Access control protects emergency operations

An access control system has been installed in the police department and EOC buildings. It is operated from the PD's dispatch center. HID proximity card readers are used, and doors are equipped with Sargent electric body locks with request-to-exit switches. Several other areas of the campus also employ access control systems, including the residence halls, the library and certain departments.

All of the students and staff are served by a network of 119 Code Blue emergency phones situated throughout campus.

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