The Office of Emergency Preparedness tested the University’s emergency notifications systems yesterday afternoon from 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Though most of the notifications functioned properly during that time, e-mail alerts were delayed during the test.
Director of Emergency Preparedness Marge Sidebottom explained that the problem was addressed by re-sending the e-mail and added that her office is now working with the Information Technology & Communication office to ascertain the source of the problem. The first e-mail notifying students of the test was not sent until 3:06 p.m. and the second e-mail, notifying students that the test was complete, was not sent until 3:31 p.m. Sidebottom noted that the course of action her office followed was consistent with its plan for a similar problem during a real emergency.
Despite the problem encountered with the emergency alert e-mail, Sidebottom described the test as a success because it confirmed that all “the systems work.” She noted that U.Va. Alerts text messages were successfully sent and were received within two minutes of the time they were sent.
Yesterday’s test marked the first time the University has tested all of its alert systems “inclusively,” with the exception of LCD screens, said Terry Tigner, administrative assistant to the director of the University’s Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Sidebottom explained that on-Grounds LCD screens were not included in the test because they require a “different initiation process” at a separate location, whereas the systems that were tested yesterday could be “dispatched from a central location.” Tigner added that LCD screens are considered an “internal process of notification,” but the focus of the test yesterday was to determine the effectiveness of “mass notification systems.”
The main difference between yesterday’s test and previous ones was that an international system was used yesterday to signal an “all clear,” which involved three blasts that sounded like air horns, Tigner said. He added that this siren used a different tone from the one tested in September, a tone which his office hopes will “carry better” over other noises, such as those from construction or rescue vehicles. Another reason for the tone change was a desire to have a “distinct sound that people would recognize,” he said.
Sidebottom added that although the Office of Emergency Preparedness knew all the systems functioned prior to beginning yesterday’s test, the occasion presented “an opportunity to integrate the new siren system.”
Sidebottom emphasized that the purpose of this test, as with any test, was to “find any weakness that can be improved upon.”
First-year College student Leila Lam expressed concern about the e-mail alert malfunction.
“In the event of a real emergency, we probably wouldn’t be able to address the problem as effectively as we should if the e-mails aren’t working properly,” Lam said.
First-year College student Shelby Adams said, though, that concerns about possible technical difficulties were not significant.
“If there was an emergency, I probably wouldn’t check my e-mail anyway,” Adams said. “I’d probably rely on the text messages and sirens.”
The information provided in the alerts itself was sufficient, second-year Engineering student Jamie Wright said. She noted that she received two e-mails and two text messages and emphasized her satisfaction with the system, saying the alert system was “very thorough.” The University, Wright said, “is doing a good job of getting in contact with people.”
There are currently 17,666 people signed up for UVa Alerts, and about 60,000 people are on the emergency e-mail alert list, Sidebottom said.
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