Faculty, staff and students of SRU are encouraged to participate in Professional Development Day, which will focus entirely on campus safety and how to be safe in the event of an emergency.
Professional Development Day will take place Monday, Oct. 8th, 2018 from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Paul Novak, Executive Director for Emergency Management said that this is the first time that their department will be taking an entire day and dedicating it specifically to emergency management and preparedness that also touches on campus safety.
He said that this training is primarily geared toward faculty and staff so that they know what to do in the case of an emergency situation.
He said that the training on Monday will provide proper training for AED machines and fire extinguishers, and participants will receive hands-on experience on how to operate it. Novak elaborated that, following an incident where an AED machine was used to save a life at the university last year, the department has increased the number of machines so that there is at least one in every classroom building.
“People who require training on fire extinguishers and AED machines are first responders, but they are also put in buildings for general use from good Samaritans,” Novak said.
Monday’s Professional Development Day will also focus on a new program called “stop the bleed” which is essentially an emergency first aid kit in the event of an active shooter.
“This is a specialized kit that would allow a bystander to administer the kit and assist to stop a person from losing significant amounts of blood,” according to Novak.
Novak said that there will be featured representatives on Monday that responded to the active shooter at the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida. He said that there will be other individuals coming to speak about their experiences responding to emergencies, especially at college campuses.
“We will also be talking about psychological first aid, which all ties into the concept of an active threat,” Novak said.
Novak said that even though this program is primarily to educate faculty and staff that students are also encouraged to attend.
“This is to increase knowledge and awareness and to make people think about how they would respond in an emergency situation,” Novak said.
He said that this training will convince people to pay more attention and to focus on what they themselves would do in a particular instance.
Novak said that Monday’s session will also cover the 20-30 things to know about in the event of an emergency.
Novak mentioned that relative to the active threat, his office received several concerns, and now they have installed manually locking doors in most classroom buildings.
He said that they are expecting anywhere from 60-75 participants at the training on Monday.
“The office of emergency management is committed to helping the campus community to be prepared and make good decisions in the unfortunate event of an emergency,” Novak said.
