The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 17, 2009

SCC lockdown drill planned

By Robb Murray

NORTH MANKATO — Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, Fort Hood: three places that have had shootings and lost lives. And three reasons why South Central College will prepare soon in case it happens there.

The college plans a “lockdown drill,” which will take place Thursday or Nov. 23 or Nov. 24. Faculty have been advised of the exact day, but students have not been, and will not be. The college has tried to notify as many people as possible to avoid anyone thinking the drill is a “real” event.

“We have done our very best to have sent that info out to as many people as possible,” said Vice President for Finance and Operations Karen Snorek. “It’s precautionary. There have been a number of recent situations, and we want our students, faculty and staff to know what do to.”

On the day it takes place, people at both the college’s North Mankato and Faribault campuses will hear the following message: “Lockdown — intruder is present in the building.” Mass text messages and e-mails will also be sent letting people know the drill has started.

After that comes the meat of the drill, and the part that college officials will evaluate to see how effective their lockdown procedure is.

People in hallways or near exits will be advised to leave “and rapidly move away from the building to an area of concealment and eventually an area of cover,” SCC Safety Director Al Kluever said in a message to the campus community. “Concealment will prevent you from being seen. Cover will prevent you from being seen but also place ballistic protection between you and the intruder.”

People in classrooms should remain there and lock the door, turn out the lights, turn off cell phones and pagers and keep away from doors and windows.

People should remain there until the “all clear” has been announced, or when a text message says the same.

One minor snag involves events that are hosted on campus but are attended by outside groups, such as high school groups.

Snorek said they’ve worked with some of those groups to avoid disruptions, but in the end, the drill is intended to gauge how well-prepared SCC is for a real-life emergency. And in real life, emergencies don’t often wait for convenient times.

“The reality is there may be an event some day in our building and something could happen,” Snorek said.

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