What if . . .
Emergency drill mobilizes university's 911 plan

During a weekend football game at Furman, a crop duster is stolen from a rural airport, loaded with a chemical and flown over Paladin Stadium, which is filled with fans. Displaying a trailing banner saying "Go Paladins," the plane circles lazily above the stadium and discharges the chemical onto the unsuspecting crowd.

Panic ensues. Thousands, covering their eyes and mouths, flee the stadium and campus. Others, too wounded to move, remain in the stands.

In a training exercise, that scenario was presented to the university November 14. The drill involved about 40 employees, including staff from the Earle Infirmary, University Housing, Public Safety officers and members of the university's Emergency Crisis Team. Area fire departments and hospitals, including Greenville Memorial and St. Francis, participated in the drill.

During the exercise volunteers visited hospitals and the infirmary. Participants also called University Housing, the infirmary, Marketing and Public Relations, Public Safety and the switchboard, posing as parents and members of the news media who were seeking more information.

The university was informed in advance about the drill, but the nature and exact time of the emergency were not released.

"We didn't want to turn everyone's day upside down, but we wanted people to think how they would respond to such an event," says Bernie Stanton, Furman's environmental health and safety manager.

In the event of a real-life emergency, Public Safety officers and other emergency personnel would be the first to react, immediately responding to life and safety threats.

Members of the university's Crisis Management Team would be called next. The team, made up of representatives from Public Safety, Facilities Services, Student Services, Marketing and Public Relations, and Information Services, are to meet as soon as possible after the initial crisis to coordinate a response plan.

Each group member carries a card with the contact information for other members.

"You can't really script an emergency response because there are too many unknown variables," says Stanton. "But we do have a procedure to assemble employees that would quickly develop a response to the emergency."

Employees participating in the drill met November 20 to critique the exercise and Furman's response to it.

"I think we were generally pleased with the way Furman responded," says Stanton. "It also exposed some areas that we need to work on. Everyone that participated in this drill learned something. That alone makes it successful."