North Texas Daily

The Emergency Management and Safety Services staff attended a Tabletop Exercise on Oct. 11 and are working on an action report on tornado safety, according to UNT Emergency Management and Safety Services. The report will identify areas where the university can improve.

Currently, the Emergency Management and Safety Services staff is looking through the notes that were taken at the 2018 Oklahoma Regional Tabletop Exercise for Institutions of Higher Education, office director Scotie Selman said. Once they compile all the information they gathered at the Tabletop, the staff will form what is called an after action report.

The after action report will identify areas for potential improvements or opportunities, Selman said. Then, the staff will review the report and agree on all the components and will start to work on implementing those measures.

“I mean any notes we are taking, any opportunities for improvement, any gaps that were identified we will put those in the after action reports,” Selman said. “The intent is to be able to make improvements.”

The exercise was held at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. Staff members from the Department of Emergency Management and Safety Services, UNT police, auxiliary and university relations, communications and marketing attended the training.

This year’s Tabletop exercise focused on tornados. The attendees went over a made-up scenario involving a tornado occurring during a large campus event and discussed the protocols that should or should not be made through each department. Each department acted as a team and went through the scenario.

“It is kind of a low-stress environment,” Selman said. “No one is going to look stupid, this is not the ‘I gotcha’ thing. It is to learn. And it is also to help us identify the procedure we have and do they work?”

Since the staff is working on safety procedures for severe weather — particularly tornados — Selman recommends UNT students, staff and faculty to download the university’s free emergency application called “Mean Green Ready.”

The application has floor plans for every building on campus and tells users where to take shelter in case of an emergency such as a tornado.

“Of course, you will get an Eagle Alert if it’s a tornado warning,” Warren said. “But if it is something less severe but can still be significant and we think the community knows about it then we can share that through our social media.”

Warren said that people should be cautious of the weather and should always be prepared for severe weather.

“We just try to give the entire UNT community, the students, the staff and faculty tools to be better-prepared individuals throughout the rest of their lives,” Warren said.

Also, Warren said that students should take advantage of the free training classes offered by Emergency Management and Safety Services, which are offered any day of the week, including weekends.

“They are free and again these are life-safety skills,” Warren said. “These are skills that will be useful to people beyond graduation.”