Lockdown Drill Reveals Flaws

After a practice lockdown drill this Tuesday, students and security raised questions regarding security procedures and a lag in notifications."We did experience a problem with the timeliness of our SMS and email system and are in the process of identifying the problem and correcting it," Director of Campus Safety Jeffrey Nelson said. "Identifying procedural and system problems is a primary reason for conducting drills."The drill took place at 3:38 pm during F-format and lasted about 15 minutes. Students were notified by alarms, followed by texts and emails alerting that a drill was taking place and ushered into nearby buildings by faculty and administrators, where teachers explained security procedures.There was a widespread problem with lateness, and a lag in text and email notifications. "There was a delay of about five minutes before I got the emails and the texts, which was concerning," upper Megan Do said."I know some people got the message ten minutes after I did. I think it's really uneven and if people don't have their phones on them then that system could put people in danger. We don't want a ten-minute time deficit if the campus was in real danger," upper Nina Meyers said.Some students said that they were initially confused as to whether a drill was even taking place."At first I thought it was just testing like they have every week, so I didn’t pay much attention," lower Cat O’Donnell said. "Also the voice [on the P.A.] was extremely hard to understand. I didn’t even know what was going on until Ms. Soucy started yelling [across the south-side quad] that a drill was taking place.""The P.A. came on, but you couldn’t hear what they were saying at all," prep Madison Hillyard said. "I didn’t know until I got the text, and my teacher had no idea a drill was taking place until I told him."Health instructor Michelle Soucy said that she felt many students had not taken the drill seriously."I felt that many students took the drill too casually," Soucy said. "I could see people just strolling along, and faculty just hanging out with their families. I had to pull people into the McConnell common room. If there was an actual incident, many kids might have been hurt."Soucy said she felt that drills should better simulate real-life scenarios. "People react this way because the text says ‘this is a drill’. How do we know how students will react in a real-life crisis if they just tell us that it’s a drill?"Students and faculty used the opportunity to learn more about security plans. "The alarm stopped and we went on with class. But when over the speakers a man said it was a lockdown, our class stood up and hid behind the lab tables," prep Jeff MacArthur said. "Everyone joked around and made hypotheticals but we soon quieted down and discussed possible escape routes if anything was to happen.""We talked about what we would do if there was a gunman in the building, we left the building and talked about where we would go, and we discussed escape routes," science instructor Sydnee Goddard said.Exeter conducts two to three campus-wide drills each year, Nelson said, as well as weekly tests of the emergency notification system. "The primary reason we drill is to identify problems and fix them so we are as prepared as possible for any real emergency," Nelson said.