EOSA - UNIVERSITY SHOOTINGS - EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN.
Dateline: April 24, 2007 ... Addison, TX
Contact: Michael Henochowicz, OPC Marketing, Inc.
Phone: (972) 267-3279
Web Address: http://www.opc-marketing.com/college_police_software.html
ADDISON, TX - April 24, 2007 - On the Anniversary of Columbine 8 Years
Ago...
The unprecedented school massacre at Virginia Tech has
underscored one terrifying fact: Such attacks can never be completely
prevented, and college campuses are especially vulnerable.
That was the admission by universities of all sizes and types around
the country, at which security and disaster experts weighed in only
hours after a gunman's shooting spree left at least 32 dead and at
least 15 injured at the Blacksburg, VA., school.
"The reality is, at your University you may have many precautions and
work consistently with the campus community on preventing crime, but
as long as we live in a democratic society, there's always an
underlying vulnerability".
Though there are limits as to what schools can do to prevent such
crimes and heighten security there are safety measures schools can
and do take.
Among them: Having the ability to broadcast important information to
all faculty, guards at academic and dormitory buildings; campus
police, students and parents.
Imagine at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, a large suburban
campus with more than 34,000 students (50,000 total at the school's
three main locations), and at UCLA, an urban state school with a total
of 37,000 students (more than 10,000 of whom are residents of the
university). How can you contact this population swiftly, when this
group is moving from one location to another both on and off campus?
"Incidents like this can be prevented. I think the best you can do is
try to minimize the impact and loss of life it has and make it as
unattractive as possible, to take such insane and morally wrong
actions".
For Example: Rutgers University has 58 sworn officers all are
trained as state police and are fully armed. They patrol campus 24
hours a day, seven days a week via car, bicycle and ATV, as well as on
foot. In addition to police, Rutgers has a security department of
about 35 officers plus a student component of 110 security-trained
students who are "the ears and eyes of the college's security
force". So there are 203+ people on staff covering a 168 hour work
week, which means on this campus, the size of a small city they are
spread really thin. During sports and other events that attract large
numbers of attendees Community services officers are used to conduct
bag searches and provide additional support.
Though tragedies like that at Virginia Tech can never be completely
eradicated, universities should make sure to inform their students and
faculty of danger and get them involved whenever possible in the
planning of disaster management scenarios.
"When the world falls apart, it's the person next to you who's going
to save you. In spite of fears of panic and mayhem, people can be
trusted with frightening news." Getting everyone important news as
fast as possible can save lives.
Virginia Tech officials and police have already come down under fire
for not placing the campus on complete lock down immediately after the
first, early-morning shooting. You snooze, you loose. The second
shooting spree, during which the majority of the victims were killed,
took place roughly two hours later many students and faculty were
unaware of the first incident and any danger and threats on campus at
all.
The university said it believed the first crime was an isolated,
domestic case, may not have been related to the second shooting and
was under control even though police and administrators had
admitted they did not have the gunman under arrest.
It's possible that further investigation will reveal Virginia Tech
could have done more to alert students of what was going on and
possibly prevent the shooting from being as catastrophic as it was.
"If the story is true that the guy went into a dormitory, did some
damage and then two hours later was doing damage in another place and
nobody was warned, that will be a major organizational failure, with
years of litigation to follow."
OPC Marketing introduces EOSA Emergency Management SpitFire
AutoDialer. Pre-recorded notifications can be broadcasted, giving
thousands emergency alert advisories telling them where to head and
where to obtain emergency medical help, instructions, shelter or
providing other crucial safety instructions, in a matter of minutes.
You can send a broadcast alert warning to specific campuses, student
or faculty groups, police, emergency responders, communities or zip
codes in the event of severe weather warnings or other deadly
possibilities.
When thousands of students are at risk, people, businesses and homes
are in harms way SpitFireX AutoDialer Systems from OPC Marketing are
an effective way to communicate quickly to phones and cell phones.
Messages can also be broadcast from your SpitFire EOSA AutoDialer
seeking volunteers or special assistance from emergency personnel.
Send volunteers to areas where are needed and keep them away from
areas where volunteers are overstaffed and not currently needed. The
effectiveness of response during emergencies depends on the amount of
planning and training performed.
One of the biggest uses may be distributing messages after the
incident. Where to seek counseling, support, answer questions, and get
financial services and more. Many people want to share their
experiences to help you put the pieces together.
OPC Marketing's EOSA Emergency Management SpitFire AutoDialer
can be demonstrated by calling OPC Marketing at:
800-859-5924 or 972-267-3279.
http://www.opc-marketing.com/college_police_software.html
OPC would like to demonstrate the power of effective communications in
the event of a man made or natural disaster. EOSA Can be connected to
over any internet enabled device, from anywhere to anywhere. We will
even host the systems in our data center offsite.
The best emergency action plans are required by a particular emergency
standard, the plan must be in writing. The plan must include, as a
minimum, the following elements: (1) Emergency escape procedures and
emergency escape route assignments, (2) Procedures to be followed by
emergency response teams who remain to perform (or shut down) critical
city or neighborhood operations before the area is evacuated, (3)
Procedures to account for all citizens after emergency evacuation has
been completed, (4) Rescue and medical duties for those emergency
personnel, who are to perform them, (5) The preferred means for
reporting escalating incidents and other emergencies, and (6) Names or
regular job titles of persons or departments to be contacted for
further information or explanation of duties under the plan.
If emergency management is not interested in sound planned protection
and in minimizing property loss, little can be done to promote a safe
university, college, neighborhood or workplace. It is therefore
emergency management's responsibility to see that a program is
instituted and that it is frequently reviewed, tested and updated. The
input and support of all people must be obtained to ensure an
effective program. The emergency response plan should be developed
locally and should be comprehensive enough to deal with all types of
emergencies specific to that area. The emergency action plan should
address all potential emergencies that can be expected in the area.
Therefore, it will be necessary to perform a hazard assessment to
determine hazards, and potentially dangerous conditions including
toxic materials in local workplaces.
The emergency response teams must list in detail the procedures to be
taken by those employees who must remain behind to care for essential
area operations until their evacuation becomes absolutely necessary.
This may include monitoring area power supplies, water supplies, and
other essential services that cannot be shut down for every emergency
alarm, and use of fire extinguishers. For emergency evacuation, the
use of the Universities street plans or workplace maps that clearly
show the emergency escape routes and safe or refuge areas should be
included in the plan. All emergency response teams must be told what
actions they are to take in emergency situations that may occur in the
college, such as a designated meeting location after evacuation.
Have a plan even if everything is wiped out, no electricity, no
communications and no water. Emergency communications equipment such
as amateur radio systems, public address systems, or portable radio
units should be present for notifying people of the emergency and for
contacting local authorities, such as law enforcement officials,
private sector charitable groups, and the fire department.
This plan must be reviewed with local and state emergency response
teams initially when the plan is developed, whenever anyone's
responsibilities under the plan change, and whenever the plan is
changed, amended or updated. A copy should be kept where emergency
response teams can refer to it at convenient times. In fact, to go a
step further, the emergency response team leader could provide the
emergency response team with a copy of the plan, particularly all new
team members.
OPC Marketing is owned by Michael Henochowicz the founder of CompUSA.
"I have my kids both in College and in High School; I developed this
system shortly after the Columbine tragedy to help in a major
catastrophe. We are here to help and showcase our State-of-the-art
emergency communication systems. We will work with you to help you
develop your plan, and minimize the loss of life and property."
CONTACT DETAILS:
Michael Henochowicz
OPC Marketing, Inc
3939 Belt Line Rd., 299
Dept: EOSA
Addison, TX 75001
Phone: 972-267-3279
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