Purdue to test all-hazards outdoor sirens Tuesday (Aug. 13) during BGR

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University will test its all-hazards outdoor emergency warning sirens Tuesday (Aug. 13) during an orientation program for new students, said Ron Wright, director of campus emergency preparedness and planning.

The university's seven sirens, placed strategically around campus, are scheduled to be sounded at approximately 4:30 p.m., Wright said. The test coincides with Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue's weeklong orientation program for new students. BGR participants also will be evacuated from Elliott Hall of Music as a drill.

The exercise, Wright said, will determine if all the sirens work and let new students know what they sound like and what to do when the sirens are activated. BGR's student leaders are being trained so that they can instruct the new students immediately following the test on how they should react in a real emergency.

In an actual emergency, the sirens indicate a disaster or imminent threat involving the entire campus and/or surrounding community.

The sirens signal individuals to shelter in place, meaning to go to lowest level of a building or to get to the nearest room and secure the doors, depending upon the situation. When possible, people on campus also should check the Purdue home page, email and local media for more information on the emergency and the appropriate action to take, Wright said.

The sirens are part of Purdue Alert, a multilayered system to notify people on campus of an emergency. Other notifications include the use of mass email, mass text-messaging and Boiler TV. To register to receive emergency text message notifications, go to http://www.purdue.edu/securepurdue, click on "Change My Emergency Contact Number," enter your Purdue account name and password, and enter your cell phone number.

More information about the alert system can be found at the Purdue Emergency Preparedness website, http://www.purdue.edu/emergency_preparedness/ 

Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu