Emporia State University tested a new emergency notification system Thursday morning, designed to warn the campus quickly in case of a crisis.
The test began at 10 a.m. with what sounded at first like a storm siren — the old “noon whistle” at the campus powerhouse, according to university officials. Marjorie Werly, ESU director of public affairs and marketing, said the whistle will be the signal for students and staff to check their computers for a message.
Those who do should find a note on their computer screen, along with a link to an emergency Web site. The emergency site would have a message with more detailed information about what was happening.
Campuses began paying extra attention to emergency communications after the Virginia Tech shootings in April. Starting two hours after the first shootings, Virginia Tech began sending e-mails, first saying to watch for any suspicious circumstances and later warning students that a gunman was loose and to stay indoors.
“This is the first test in a series of processes that will eventually be in place for us to handle all kinds of crisis-type communications,” Werly said.
The whistle sounded for about 30 seconds. Ray Hauke, ESU vice-president of administration and fiscal affairs, said the whistle would be tweaked to see if it could be made louder.