TAYLOR BOROWETZ

After the shooting on Parliament Hill last week, the University of Ottawa was forced into a lockdown. Brian Muchmore, director of University of Saskatchewan Protective Services, assured that the campus has concrete plans and protocol in the event of an emergency situation.

Muchmore is also the individual responsible for emergency planning, and he has been in Saskatoon since 2011. Prior to working with Protective Services, he spent 21 years in the military in emergency planning and policing and was the security manager for the Canadian Embassy in Mexico.

His day-to-day job at the U of S consists of administration as well as developing, maintaining and practicing plans. These plans extensively outline the procedure to be followed in the event of a crisis or disaster. Muchmore aims to make everyone feel safe and secure, and ensure the officers under his command are prepared.

Muchmore leads the Crisis Operations team. He explained that the U of S has a detailed emergency management plan that accounts for the actions each person on the team is to take.

During a lockdown, every college and administrative unit has an emergency response plan. Muchmore said that each plan is tailored to that specific area and also has designated safe spaces.

He also pointed out that each college administrative unit has been trained and done drills.

The activation of USafe, the mass notification system, is an extremely important part of the immediate response to an emergency. In the event of an emergency situation that requires action, USafe will send out an alert through SMS. This message triggers individuals in the campus community to respond the events at hand and follow the prompts given to them.

USafe is available to any member of the campus community, but is entirely opt-in. To ensure that you are signed up, log into PAWS and click the gear icon at the top of your feed. You can then select “text message settings” (under the announcements tab) and enter your contact information of choice.

The Protective Services team has timed their drills to initiate emergency site management and ensure that a USafe message is sent out within seven minutes of the time they become aware of an emergency. Once everyone is in a safe area and the threat is being neutralized, updates on the situation will continue as it evolves. Communication also proceeds through social media and email.

Muchmore said the team also works to keep the campus community informed on a daily basis: for example, advertising for SafeWalk.

He advises students to read emails that are sent out as well as bulletins that are posted. Maintaining situational awareness is also important; understanding where you are and what is going on around you can help you feel safe.

“We publish a lot of information, and a lot of it goes unread,” said Muchmore.

For additional information, the Protective Services website and blog are updated frequently and are accessible at any time.