• Home
• Life at Drury
• Current Students
• Safety & Security
• Emergency Action Plan

Emergency Action Plan

Drury University will test the Emergency Response and Evacuation Procedures at least once a calendar year in conjunction with the Greene County Emergency Operations Center and the state-wide tornado drill. This drill will be announced and all faculty, staff and students campus wide will participate in the drill. All faculty, staff and students at the satellite campuses are also required to participate. See Emergency Action Procedures below:

EMERGENCY ACTION PROCEDURES

Response to an Active Shooter

Definition: Active Shooter - one or more subjects who participate in a random or systematic shooting spree, demonstrating their intent to continuously harm others. The overriding objective appears to be that of inflicting serious bodily injury/death rather than other criminal conduct. These situations are dynamic and evolve rapidly, demanding immediate deployment of law enforcement resources to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to innocent victims.

What should I do if I see someone with a gun or hear gunfire?

• Lock and barricade doors.
• Turn off lights. Close blinds.
• Turn off radios and computer monitors.
• Silence cell phones.
• Keep yourself out of sight and take adequate cover.
• Call 911 and the Drury Safety & Security Office at ext. 7400 or 7911

Secure Immediate Area

• Lock and barricade doors.
• Turn off lights.
• Close blinds.
• Block windows.
• Turn off radios and computer monitors.
• Keep occupants calm, quiet, and out of sight.
• Hide backpacks, briefcases and anything that would alert a shooter that people are in the room.
• Keep yourself out of sight and take adequate cover/protection, i.e., concrete walls, thick desks, filing cabinets (cover may protect you from bullets).
• Silence all cell phones.

Un-securing an Area

• Consider risks before un-securing rooms.
• Remember, the shooter may not stop until engaged by police.
• Efforts to rescue people should only be attempted if it can be accomplished without further endangering the persons inside a secured area.
• Consider the safety of masses versus the safety of a few.
• If doubt exists for the safety of individuals inside the room, the area should remain secured.

Contacting Authorities

• Drury Safety and Security: ext. 7400 or 7911.
• Local Police Agency Emergency 911. (Be aware that the 911 system will likely be overwhelmed. Program your cell phone with your campus emergency number.)

What to Report

• Your specific location, building name and office/room number.
• Number of people at your specific location.
• Injuries - number injured & types of injuries.
• Assailant(s)location, number of assailants, race/gender, clothing description, physical features, type of weapons (long gun or hand gun), backpack, assailants identity if known, number of explosions from gunfire, etc.

The Police Response Objective is to:

• Save lives.
• Immediately engage assailant(s).
• Evacuate victims.
• Facilitate follow-up medical care, interviews, counseling and investigation.

Specific Guidance to Faculty, Staff, and Students

How you respond to an active shooter will be dictated by the specific circumstances of the encounter, keeping in mind there could be more than one shooter involved in the same situation. If you find yourself involved in an active shooter situation, remain calm and use these guidelines to help you plan a strategy for survival.

• If an active shooter is outside your building, proceed to a room that can be locked or secured by some other means such as a door wedge or barricade materials. Lock all doors and windows and turn off the lights. If possible, get everyone down on the floor and ensure that no one is visible from outside the room. Someone call 911 on a landline or a cell phone. Advise the dispatcher of what is taking place and inform him/her of your location. Remain in place until the police or a campus administrator that you know gives the all clear . Unfamiliar voices may be the shooter(s) attempting to lure victims from their safe space - DO NOT respond to any voice commands until you can verify with certainty that they are being issued by a police officer!
  
  
• If an active shooter is in the same building you are, secure the room you are in by the door lock, a wedge, or barricade material, and then follow the same procedure described in the previous paragraph. If you cannot secure the room, determine if there is a nearby location that can be reached safely and secured, or if you can safely exit the building. If you decide to more from your current location, be sure to follow the instructions outlined below.
  
  
• If an active shooter enters your office or classroom, try to remain calm, call 911 if possible, and alert police to the shooter's location. If you can't speak, leave the line open so the dispatcher can hear what is taking place. Usually, the location of a caller can be determined without speaking. If the shooter leaves the area, proceed immediately to a safer place. DO NOT TOUCH anything that was in the area of the shooter.
  
  
• No matter what the circumstances, if you decide to flee during an active shooter situation, make sure you have a plan and escape route in mind. DO NOT attempt to carry anything in your hands while fleeing. Move quickly, keep your hands visible, and follow instructions given by any police officers you may encounter. DO NOT try to move any injured people; leave them where they are and notify authorities of their location as soon as possible. DO NOT attempt to drive off campus until told it is safe to do so by police.

What to Expect from Responding Police Officers

• Police officers responding to an active shooter are trained to proceed immediately to the area where the shots were last heard. Their purpose is to stop the shooting as quickly as possible. The first responding officers will form a contact team of four (4); they will possibly be from different agencies and dressed in different uniforms. They may even be in civilian clothes and wearing an external bulletproof vest. Some officers may be dressed in Kevlar helmets and other tactical equipment. The officers may be armed with rifles, shotguns, or handguns, and might be using pepper spray or tear gas to control the situation.
  
  
• Regardless of how they appear, remain calm. Do as the officers tell you, and do not be afraid of them. Put down any bags or packages that you are carrying and keep your hands visible at all times; if you know where the shooter is, tell the officers. The first officers to arrive will not stop to aid injured victims; rescue teams composed of other officers and emergency medical personnel will follow the first team into secured areas to treat and remove injured persons. Keep in mind that once you have escaped to a safer location, the entire area is still a crime scene. Police will usually not let anyone leave until the situation is under control and witnesses have been identified. Until you have been released, remain at whatever assembly point authorities designate.

Earthquake Plan (Developed by the Office of Safety & Security)

Earthquakes can be traumatic. However, planning and practicing what to do in case of an earthquake can lessen fears and anxieties.

In a major earthquake, you may experience a shaking that starts gently and within a second or two grows violent enough to knock you off your feet. You may be jarred by a violent jolt, similar to a sonic boom, or you may hear a low and perhaps loud rumbling noise a second later. Depending on the severity of the shaking, you may have trouble moving from one room to another. These are all signs that you may have only a second or two to find safe shelter.

Safe spots

• Under a sturdy table or wood-framed door.
• Against an inside corner of a room.
• Cover your head with your arms or whatever is handy: pillow, cushion, book bag, etc.
• Danger Zones
• Windows that may shatter.
• Bookcases, cabinets and furnishings that may topple.

Other Guidelines

• After the initial shock waves have passed, seek a place of safety outside, away from trees and overhead power lines; for example: Sunderland Field.
  
  
• Remain calm; DO NOT run. Your presence of mind will help rescue workers safely remove people from buildings.
  
  
• Give aid to those in need, but only if the situation is not threatening to your own life. If you must leave a victim, remember where they are and notify a security officer or maintenance person with a red armband.
  
  
• DO NOT attempt to re-enter any building. Even if the building looks undamaged, it may have broken water or gas lines or severed electrical cables, all of which are hazardous. Stay in a safe area until permission is given to return to the building.
  
  
• Facilities services personnel will monitor all buildings for gas leaks and inspect for other damage. Buildings found to be unsafe will be secured and cordoned off with yellow warning tape.
  
  
• As in any disaster, utilities and communication systems may be severely disrupted; what is available will be used for emergency traffic. Please DO NOT try to call off campus. The Office of University Communications has developed a crisis communication plan and will relay information through news media and by other means.

Tornado Plan (Developed by the Office of Safety & Security)

When a tornado watch is declared for Springfield, Missouri, this means that conditions are favorable for severe weather, which may include tornadoes. When the watch is issued, Safety & Security personnel will monitor the weather alert radio and observe the weather, looking for heavy rain, lightning, hail, funnel clouds, etc.

When a tornado watch is issued, the Safety & Security Office will alert the following people:

• Wallace Hall Director or Duty Resident Assistant
• Sunderland Hall Director or Duty Resident Assistant
• Smith Hall Director or Duty Resident Assistant.

When a tornado warning is issued, it means that a funnel cloud or tornado has been sighted in the area and Springfield is in its path. City warning sirens will sound and the university will immediately implement the tornado emergency plan. All students, faculty and staff will move to designated shelter areas and remain in those areas until the warning ends. Classroom instructors should direct students to shelter areas.

The Safety & Security Office will contact all residence halls and campus offices that are open. Officers will patrol the campus, informing people of the warning and directing them to the nearest safe place.

If there is severe damage, the Drury Crisis Plan will be implemented. Officers will establish a command center in or near the Safety & Security Office on the lower level of Findlay Student Center.

General Precautions

• Avoid areas with glass windows, doors, or mirrors.
• Go to the lowest level of the building.
• Take a flashlight and a battery-operated radio and tune to the Emergency Broadcast System on KTTS 94.7 FM or KWTO 560 AM.
• If the tornado is upon you, crouch and cover your head to avoid flying debris. Most deaths and injuries in a tornado come from flying debris and glass.

Hate Crimes

Drury University reports all hate crimes via the crime statistics matrix found later in this report.

Timely Warning

The Drury University Safety & Security Department takes crimes very seriously and will publish a crime alert within 24 hours on an incident, to aid in the prevention of similar crimes. The notices will be for crimes listed in the Clery Act that are reported to Drury's Safety & Security Department or the Springfield Police Department, or when they represent a threat to others on campus.

Crime reports will be posted on the Drury Safety & Security website: http://www.drury.edu/section/section.cfm?sid=87" .

Upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees, occurring on campus, a warning may be issued through several forms of communication such as: the snow line (417) 873-7669, campus wide emails, text messages, and DENA (Drury Emergency Notification System). We also have a siren that will sound in conjunction with the Greene County Emergency Operations Center during inclement weather, and that can be set off manually for campus lockdown situations.

Please come by the Safety & Security Office, Findlay Student Center 101, to sign up for the text messaging system.

• Drury University
• 900 North Benton Avenue
• Springfield, Missouri 65802, USA
• 1.800.922.2274
• drury@drury.edu