Ready, or Not?

By Doug Lederman

"As institutions like Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and Louisiana Technical College, one by one, had multiple people killed in campus shootings, the general consensus was that such incidents could happen anywhere. 'It's very important to be aware that a college community is like any other - it isn't a protected oasis,' one campus security expert said after the Northern Illinois shooting."

"While colleges can do little if anything to stop emergencies like these from unfolding, emergency preparedness experts and federal agencies generally agree on a set of steps that postsecondary and other institutions should take to be ready to respond to crises. A study published in the latest issue of Radiologic Technology suggests, though, that the emergency preparedness plans at a significant proportion of colleges and universities lack some of the key elements seen as necessary to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from 'mass casualty events.' ..."

Full article available http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/08/05/emergency