The night before final exams, everyone- and that means you- wants a good night’s sleep. You settle down to sleep somewhat early, but your good intentions are suddenly shattered by the piercing screech of the fire alarm. Nearly falling out of your bunk, you make your way to the door, vowing to kill the idiot who pulled the fire alarm at 1 a.m. Opening your door, you see throngs of sleepy people in the hall, all angry- but doing what’s best for them.
This is probably similar to an experience that many former Jogues residents had last semester, the night before finals. However, that night it wasn’t an alarm malfunction, nor was it some drunk fool pulling the alarm; there was a real fire.
According to Eddie Seavers ’03, a resident assistant in Jogues last year, security handled the fire quickly and responsibly.
“Security was there extremely quick,” said Seavers. ” Security tried to save what they could before firefighters arrived, but they didn’t have the safety equipment. Secuirty assisted the RAs and made sure that everyone was evacuating the building so everyone’s safety would be maintained. We were allowed to go back at 4 a.m. and I was with residents the whole night.”
According to Frank Ficko, the associate director of the security department, if a crisis is confirmed by the Administration, evacuation may be warranted. If an alarm is activated, it’s the signal to leave whether students think the situation is life-threatening or not.
“We’d rather be safe than sorry,” he said. “Fire Alarms can be effective for almost any situation. When that’s not possible, officers go door to door, as with the hostage situation in Canisius last year.” Crisis management team administrators are on call around the clock- if there’s an emergency, the team convenes meets to discuss all possible options and different responses to them are determined.
In addition to the crisis management team, all security officers are given a manual that is nearly three inches thick. These manuals contain everything from report writing to what to do in the event of a bomb threat, to blue prints of all the buildings on campus.
“You can’t plan these things,” added Ficko. “We do the best we can to be prepared. The safety of the students is first and foremost.”
Students can also try to be prepared for an emergency. Evacuation procedures are outlined in the student handbook, which is also online. What is not clear is where to go afterwards. Hopefully evacuations will only be temporary, but if they are not, then try to find a friend to stay with for the night.
That’s exactly what Emily Treano ’05, from the first floor of Jogues, did last year.
“We had to find other places to sleep because they kicked us out of the building,” said Treano. “I had a final the next day and I had to find somewhere to sleep in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping.”
Security is always looking for ways to improve emergency procedures, said Ficko.
“We don’t want the procedures to become complacent and we constantly review and update the procedures we have in place.”
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