News
Siren not audible inside dorms
Danger zone doesn't reach residence halls
By Olga Ivshina on 11/15/07
Shelter-in-place means everyone in the 742-foot radius surrounding the excavation area should immediately go inside the nearest building and stay there for the entire duration of the alarm. The siren will sound in cycles of three minutes, followed by 15 minutes of silence. Building occupants should shut all windows and turn off heating and air conditioning units to prevent possible intake of contaminated air, according to Army Corps regulations.
There are no distinctive differences between the emergency procedures in each of the affected buildings. Upon hearing the siren, occupants should close all doors that lead to the exterior of the building, gather belongings and other materials needed and move to the nearest lounge, corridor or the second floor of the building.
In addition to the audible siren warning, those in the affected area of campus would also learn about any emergency alert through an automated phone-tree system. When the siren sounds, it triggers the system to begin calling a set list of phone numbers to alert people about the emergency. The list includes building marshals, according to David Taylor, chief of staff to President Neil Kerwin.
"Once they are alerted to the situation, they become the ones responsible for alerting people and implementing safety procedures," Taylor said.
There are no distinctive differences between the emergency procedures in each of the affected buildings. Upon hearing the siren, occupants should close all doors that lead to the exterior of the building, gather belongings and other materials needed and move to the nearest lounge, corridor or the second floor of the building.
In addition to the audible siren warning, those in the affected area of campus would also learn about any emergency alert through an automated phone-tree system. When the siren sounds, it triggers the system to begin calling a set list of phone numbers to alert people about the emergency. The list includes building marshals, according to David Taylor, chief of staff to President Neil Kerwin.
"Once they are alerted to the situation, they become the ones responsible for alerting people and implementing safety procedures," Taylor said.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Allen Hengst
posted 11/15/07 @ 12:52 PM EST
FYI, to hear exactly what the emergency siren sounded like on November 7th, please follow the link on my blog underneath the picture of the green and yellow "Shelter-In-Place" image or you can download the 3. (Continued…)
ahengst
Allen Hengst
posted 11/16/07 @ 12:20 PM EST
To hear a three-minute recording of this emergency siren from November 7th, I've posted a link to the 3.7 MB sound file on my "Weapons of Mass Destruction in DC" blog underneath the image of the green and yellow Shelter-In-Place directions. (Continued…)
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