Crisis Management Team
Meeting Notes
April 11, 2013
Attendance:
1.
E. Banas, P. Bankston, B. Beilfuss, B. Bullock, E. Davies, M. Diming, S. Fejdasz,
K. Falzone, O. Jefimenko, G. Lewis, K. Malone, D. Malik, K. Manteuffel, M. Milich,
J. Pellicciotti, C. Wood
Approval of Minutes from February 14, 2013
The minutes from February 14, 2013 were approved.
2.
Scheduling: CMT Meetings & Incident Commander/PIO Monthly Sessions
Vice Chancellor Pellicciotti announced that Joe Romero was unable to attend the meeting.
Also, he announced that the CMT will meet every other month for the remainder of the year and
possibly into next year. This will give the incident commanders the opportunity to meet and train as a
separate group. An e-mail was sent to all members of the CMT with the meeting dates for the year.
3.
POD (Point of Dispensing) – Emergency Preparedness Set-Up Drill
Kathryn Manteuffel stated that IU Northwest has an agreement with the City of Gary’s Department of
Health and Human Services to serve as a point of dispensing pharmaceuticals and information that
would be needed for a bioterrorism type event. This Friday, a mock set-up will take place in the
Savannah Gymnasium from 1 pm to 3 pm. The City of Gary’s Health and Human Services will set-up
their equipment in the gym and entry way to illustrate the flow of people throughout the POD site from
entrance to exit. They will set-up within approximately one hour, evaluate the set-up and process,
and then tear it down. The exercise is required by state law for all POD designated sites. The drill
should not have much of an impact on campus operations; a few people from administration
attending, including the CMT chair, head of Physical Plant, IUPD personnel and me.
Kathryn also announced that Lake County Emergency Management will be conducting a public
sandbagging exercise on April 19th from 9:30 am until 12 noon. It will be held at the portion of the
Harrison/Jefferson roadway which goes over the Little Calumet River which is the area that was
breached during the flood of 2008. They will be bringing a team to conduct the sandbagging exercise
and will be closing the area from 30th Avenue to south of the river (which curves around to the north
side of Gleason Park). A message from Marketing and Communications will be sent early next week
to inform the campus.
4.
Severe Weather Testing
Kathryn Manteuffel reported that Operation Stormy Weather was conducted throughout the State of
Indiana and all IU campuses participated. There were two drills; the first drill occurred around 9:30
am and the second drill occurred around 6:30 pm. IU Notify was launched for both drills to the
campus community. Feedback requested from EAP reps resulted in 47 comments and suggestions.
The top comment reported was that some people were not able to hear the outdoor tornado sirens
inside the buildings. Kathryn explained that the sirens are not intended to be heard indoors and are
an outdoor warning siren only. She has communicated this and will continue to communicate it more
effectively. Other issues reported were NOAA radios that did not activate for some EAP reps, and
there were some issues with IU Notify. The biggest complaint regarding IU Notify was that some
people did not receive an alert message. There was also some confusion in hearing the outdoor
siren and the timing of the IU Notify messages. Kathryn shared data extracted from RAVE showing
the number of messages sent and who they were sent to. She is currently investigating why some of
the messages did not go out but believes the RAVE system may have automatically cancelled some
messages in order to free up the system. The top suggestions received related to adding signage
identifying tornado shelter locations and offering more training on tornado’s as well as other safety
related training. She will work with Joe Romero and Emergency Management to see if funding is
available for signage and training. Marge Abels suggested that another test of IU Notify be performed
in the fall.
Dr. Bankston stated that he was attending a meeting at IUPUI during the drill and, although the
members in the meeting knew a drill was taking place, no alarms were heard and no action was
taken. He did receive the IU Notify message on his cell phone. Kathryn Manteuffel stated that all
campuses received the launch of IU Notify and she will share the information with Joe Romero.
Kathryn Manteuffel encouraged all CMT members to participate in the survey that was attached to
the IU Notify e-mails that went out. She stated that the feedback will be addressed by emergency
management or sent back to individual campuses to address.
Steve Fejdasz asked how to distinguish between fire, tornado, or an active shooter situation when
using an audible alarm. Kathryn stated that a task force was formed a few years ago to discuss this
issue. The two best recommendations from the task force were to use an LED banner in classrooms
or install a PA system; however, we are waiting for the University policy decision for all campuses.
Bob Beilfuss reported that employees in the physical plant building could not hear the alarm. Kathryn
Manteuffel suggested getting another NOAA radio for the main area of the building. Emily Banas
suggested that someone in physical plant set up their cell phone to receive system alerts.
Mianta’ Diming stated that there is some confusion in the room numbers on the Marram Hall
evacuation map. Kathryn Manteuffel explained that the hallways, restrooms, and lounges have room
numbers displayed on the map even though there is no physical number on the doors. For this
reason, they need to identify a space rather than room number. She will make a note of it for future
reference in obtaining different signage.
5.
Disaster Resistant University Project
Vice Chancellor Pellicciotti announced that the university is participating in a federally funded
program called the Disaster Resistant University. In order to receive federal funding from FEMA and
other agencies, institutions requesting the funds must go through a process in which they model the
impact of disasters. The university has hired consultants to model disasters specific to each campus
area. For IU Northwest, the model will be natural disasters, but also will also include hazmat
situations due to the campus proximity to transportation byways. His understanding is that the
consultants will bring the disaster proposal to the CMT, the chancellor, and the leadership team, and
will then hold a public forum for the entire community. The timeline for this to happen is sometime
this summer, but no dates have been given yet.
6.
Update: Business Continuity Planning
Vice Chancellor Pellicciotti distributed the status of business continuity planning among nonacademic units on behalf of Joe Romero. Any changes to the list should be given to Jackie Peyton
who will forward the changes to Joe Romero.
7.
Meeting Adjourned
Submitted by Jackie Peyton
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