Pittsburg State leaders test emergency plan in tabletop exercise - KOAM TV 7

Pittsburg State leaders test emergency plan in tabletop exercise

Pittsburg State University tested it's response to a major disaster such as a tornado today with a table-top exercise.  The idea was to practice a plan that's already on paper.

University leaders had to make real-time decisions on what they would do if a major to sweep through the campus.

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management led the exercise and the coordinator, Jackie Miller, says it's the first time she's done a program like this with a university.

"So this was very exciting to know that the university is taking preparedness seriously," says Miller.

"You always learn from these experiences and certainly today we saw that there were some gaps, some areas that we need to focus on, but that's exactly why we did it," says PSU President Steve Scott.

"It just gave everyone an awareness of some things that are possibilities that they may not have considered in the past and it also emphasized the importance of planning ahead for emergencies," says Mike McCracken of the PSU Police.

The university is in the process of deploying a new advanced warning system campus wide.