Oklahoma State University home to new Emergency Operations Center

Friday, September 11, 2009

Campus now designated StormReady by National Weather Service

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(STILLWATER, OK – September 11, 2009) Oklahoma State University has improved its ability to quickly respond to an emergency with the opening of a new Emergency Operations Center.

“Keeping our students, employees and visitors safe is of the highest priority,” said OSU President Burns Hargis.  “One of the most important issues in safety is being prepared in the event of a disaster, and that’s what the EOC brings to our campus.”

Emergency Operations Coordinator Ron Hill said the new facility, along with other emergency management programs and plans, mean OSU is better prepared and the OSU campus is safer.

“The University has taken a very aggressive approach to developing an emergency management program,” Hill said. “What that encompasses is developing disaster response plans in case of an emergency, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made. We are in the process of doing that at this time.”

The Emergency Operations Center is well equipped with all the tools needed to monitor an emergency situation, including media outlets, computer programs and weather programs. Nearly anything that needs to be done in a command center can be done in the EOC, according to Hill.

Although Hill is the only full-time staff member in the EOC, he has a team of twelve that he can call upon when needed. This team is made up of various campus leaders who meet once a month to review disaster plans, mass notification systems and emergency situations and scenarios.

In case of an emergency, the team would meet in the EOC to support emergency responders. The tools provided in the center would allow the group to make informed decisions about what is going on and what might need to take place, and to be able to supply OSU’s upper leadership with informed decisions and information.

Hill has only been at OSU for the past eight months, and although he is new to the job, he is certainly not new to emergency management.  After spending 18 ½ years with the city of Stillwater Emergency Management, he went on to work in the state’s Office of Emergency Management, where he was Chief of Operations during the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“I’ve got about 40 years in the business of emergency services, and I’m really glad and honored to be back in Stillwater and at OSU,” Hill said.

Although the University already had a disaster plan and mass notification system, which was implemented immediately after the Virginia Tech shooting, Hill has made a point to bring the program up to the standards of some of the most advanced schools in the nation since his arrival. The EOC will soon have all of the equipment to duplicate the campus police   communication system in the event that system goes down. The EOC also coordinates with the city of Stillwater and it’s Emergency Operations Center, Hill said.

OSU has also been the first university in the state to train with the state’s Office of Emergency Management on a new computer program involving tracking resources, such as equipment and manpower, during an emergency. Hill feels that OSU is ahead of the game in many ways when it comes to emergency services.

“I think the University needs to be recognized for its very aggressive approach to emergency management,” he said. “It is doing everything within its power to protect everybody on this campus.”

Other preparedness and safety measures taking place across campus include a campus safety web site (safety.okstate.edu) so that university employees, students and the general public can stay up-to-date on safety and wellness issues involving the campus.  Also the campus was recently designated StormReady by the National Weather Service, which means the campus is equipped and has completed advanced safety and awareness training to be ready during weather related events.