GTPD tests security equipment with drill

A Homeland Security drill took place on campus May 18. Hemphill Road was shutdown while the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) and the Atlanta Fire Department (AFD) conducted the drill.

"What we simulated was a chemical spill," said Bob Lang, the Georgia Tech Homeland Security Director. "We mitigated the spill and cordoned off the area affected by the spill."

The AFD was called because, according to Lang, they wanted to see their response. The reason the AFD was called was because they have a hazardous material group to handle chemical spills.

"The material simulated in the spill was anhydrous ammonia, which hurts when you breathe it," Lang said.

"We also wanted to see how all the departments involved in the emergency response interacted with each other," Lang said.

According to Lang, the FBI was also contacted, which is standard protocol.

"After September 11th, the FBI has been taking a more active interest in what goes on in universities and large public arenas," Lang said. "The FBI is already working at Falcons' games and will begin working at Tech football games."

According to Lang, the main purpose of the drill was to test new equipment.

"The equipment can be installed in a building and can detect any type of agent that is put into the air," Lang said. "The system ties to the fire alarm and sets the alarm off. The system also serves as a direct link with the authorities."

Without the device, the police have to rely on caller information which, according to Lang, causes too much wasted time.

"Another thing we were testing was Groove software," Lang said. "The software is used in emergency response and enables the documentation of everything that takes place during the emergency response."

"During the drill, I called President Clough and told him it was a Level II incident, which basically means it can't be handled internally and needs outside assistance," Lang said.

According to Lang, the president then moved to a secure location where he also had access to the Groove software and allowed him to view everything that was taking place. This, according to Lang, would give him sufficient information should he have to decide to evacuate campus. "The software eliminates the middleman and the confusion," Lang said.

Lang and his team decided to put another twist into the drill.

"Another aspect of the drill was a bomb threat received in the police department where we had our emergency operation center," Lang said. "We had to pack up and move our emergency operation center across the street to Building 113."

According to Lang, they call it a Virtual Emergency Operation Center because it can be taken anywhere and run on an alternate source of power.

"The time it took us to pack everything up, move across the street, and set everything back up was six minutes," Lang said. "The drill proved that the system worked. The FBI was very impressed with the operation."

The drill was not a lone incident, however. The Police Department plans to do more drills in the future.

"In the future, there will be more interactive drills. We are not trying to plan the outcome, but put different scenarios together that really test what we can do," Lang said. "We will be involving students, faculty, and staff. We want to help students understand the severity of such a situation."

According to Lang, they are planning an annual drill. The reason is to keep testing to systems in place.

"You can have a procedure in place, but the procedure has to be tested," Lang said. "If it is not tested, something will go wrong."

The administration is aware of effort needed to secure the campus.

"Dr. Clough fully understands what is needed to protect the university and respond in an emergency situation," Lang said.

According to Lang, the drills are an ongoing process.

"We have to change the attitude towards emergencies," Lang said. "In the future, everyone has to be involved."