Present: Don, Bryan, Elizabeth, Rachel, Phillip
Agenda
- Active Shooter Procedures and Questions
The committee reviewed questions and comments submitted by Valley building staff and faculty. Suzy Tannenbaum, Chief of Public Safety, presented on this topic at the April 26 Library Admin briefing. A pdf of her presentation can be found here.
Rachel will contact Suzy about doing a building walkthrough. At our next meeting we will work on improving the wiki site, FAQ, getting the word out, and the LAMP presentation.
Submissions with committee comments included:
- Can library window glass be broken to exit the building?
- Comment: Yes it can but probably would need excessive force and a danger with glass shards. It would also be very noisy possibly attracting attention and there are very few areas where this might be necessary. Would be best to evacuate through emergency exits.
- Ideas for items to use around library as a weapon/defense tool against the perpetrator in a "fight" situation.
- Comment: Most anything can be used as a weapon in your work environemnt including staplers, chairs, coffee cups, scissors, laptop computers, phone, monitor, fire extinguishers, ect.
- Better locks to staff area doors. Better ways to lock down staff areas quickly/securely. Here was a verbatim suggestion from someone in RAS: "In an active shooter situation, it would be good to be ableto lock the doors to the 3rd floor work room quickly. They presently lock with a key from the hallway side only. Presently, the two doors lock differently: one of them locks to the right, and the other to the left, which has confused some people in the past. It would be really cool to have an indicator on the office side of the door re: whether the door is locked or unlocked. "
- Comment: Can we replace doors with no windows, use frosted glass, replace locks so they can be locked from the inside? If we go to keypads they will be locked at all times. Currently we would need to avoid hiding where we could be seen through glassed doors.
- Would it be possible to have presentations on this on an annual or semi-regular basis, possibly more tailored to the library building?
- Comment: Yes, the committee plans to include timely information and include in Safety Week along with activities.
- Does Oregon's law preventing open carry in public buildings apply to OSU buildings and surrounding grounds?
- Comment: No firearms are allowed on campus including concealed weapons with a permit. This is the policy of all campuses determined by the State Board of Higher Education - https://fa.oregonstate.edu/sites/fa.oregonstate.edu/files/manuals/gen/ous-policy-on-firearms.pdf
- Like the current online resource and how succinct it is and how it has links to other resources. You could add the run, hide, fight poster to really send the message home and break up the text. Also place information on the main page that you really want people to know.
- Good suggestions and the committee will be improving the Wiki site.
- Wiki reads well and is understandable
- My primary concern is that these resources don’t include information about the fact that one is not allowed to carry a firearm on the OSU campus. I was told a few years ago by public safety that if we see someone with a firearm of any kind, we should call 911 immediately.
- Comment: The committee can highlight this fact on the Wiki site and include what to do if you see someone with a possible firearm or weapon on campus. There are a couple of exceptions. Another issue is ROTC students who may carry their mock rifles for drills around campus.
- Also, how do we account for our coworkers if there is an event on campus? Do we have a place we should gather to make sure everyone is accounted for?
- I’m interested in seeing the inventory of rooms that public safety may have been going to compile for the library – Where are the best places to hide in the library?
Just a few thoughts: Having just gone through the building evacuation I think that the evacuation procedures we have are wholly in adequate and contradictory to what seems to be the general consensus on how to handle the situation. I.E. in an active shooter situation it seems like everyone saysto scatter, hide, and remain quiet. While in the building evacuation we make as much noise as possible and instruct people to gather in a central location. Can we write active shooter evacuation procedures that are different? Also it seems like a major hurdle is getting people to recognize the sound of gunshots and take initiative to escape. Perhaps we could/should do some drills so that people have a good idea of where they can go to get out/hide and what it actually sounds like?
- Comment: Supervisors are responsible for accounting for their employees. Don has created an Emergency Contact Roster Google Sheet for supervisors to record employee phone numbers along with other information. Current supervisors should have been invited to this list and it is only available to supervisors.
- Comment: Our general evacuation plans do not apply to Active Shooter events so there are no "staging" areas where departments/units would meet. You should not pre-identify areas to meet or hide as a shooter with inside information may know where that is. You would evacuate the building and find a safe place to go. Emergency personnel may be outside to assist you. We can highlight this fact on the wiki site.
- The students of concern link is not live on that wiki page.
- Comment: The link has been updated
- What will the campus alert system say? How would it be used in this type of situation ?
- Comment: Bryan will check with Mike Bamberger
- What other numbers should I program into my phone so that I can call for help immediately (other than 911?)
- Comment: 541-737-7000 is recommended which is the Oregon State Police. You should also have your supervisors phone number.
- I guess I don’t feel very prepared at all for this kind of thing and the Run, Hide Fight slogan, while somewhat useful, doesn’t fully help me think how I might actually respond. Where would I run? Where would I hide, How would I fight? I might be a person who needs to do a kind of drill, although I know that is triggering for others.
- Comment: Drills are not practical for Active Shooter events due to so many variables. You should think through as an individual where you would run (nearest emergency exit), where you would hide (in your work area or in the library), and how you would fight (what objects are available to you to use as a weapon). Feel free to do this with a co-worker.
- What do I as an individual need to do? What are my responsibilities? Run. Hide. Fight. Call campus safety only if it is safe to do so. 541.737.7000.
- Comment: Protect yourself is your only responsibility. Know where to run, where you can hide, and how you can fight if necessary.