CERT Class Practical Exercise
On Friday, October 28, 2011, students in the Fall 2011 CERT class participated in a practical exercise held at the Physical Plant maintenance facility. Students were able to practice many of the skills they learned throughout the 7 week course including light search & rescue, basic triage, cribbing, and putting out a fire with a fire extinguisher. Upon completing the class, all the participants received a letter of completion and had their name added to the Maryville CERT and the Meramec Valley Citizen's Corps Council's CERT participant registry. Click here for pictures.
"Operation Checkpoint"
As part of Campus Safety Month activities, Maryville University's Public Safety Department teamed up with AAA and MoDOT to host a free vehicle safety inspection program on Friday, September 9. Dubbed "Operation Checkpoint," the program allowed for 27 free vehicle inspections in a two hour period. Maryville University students, faculty, and staff received a 40-point inspection that covered lights, fluids, belts, hoses, tires, and batteries.
The average age of the vehicles inspected were 6-1/2 years with an average odometer reading of 87,000 miles. One-third of the vehicles were low on important automotive fluids, such as engine oil, coolant, and transmission fluid. Nearly half were found to have issues with the tires, like low tire pressure, inconsistent pressure, and worn tire treads. Replacement of certain belts and hoses was recommended, particularly on older vehicles with original equipment. Two AAA Battery Service personnel were also on hand to check the batter and perform a full electrical test on each vehicle. (information courtesy of Eric Granneman, Manager of Automotive Programs at AAA) Click here for article in AAA Newsletter.
We will be kicking off our 3rd annual campus safety month on September 1st when we will be handing out information about the month long activities at the Information Fair. We will once again be part of the "Click it or Lick it" campaign by handing out "Smarties" to those of you who arrive to campus wearing your seat belts. If you choose not to wear your seat belt you will receive a "Dum Dum" sucker with a sticker encouraging you to wear it. RAD will begin on September 7th and please plan on attending one of our information booths to sign up for Saints Alert or to get information on how you can get your electronic property marked. New this year will be "Operation Checkpoint" where AAA technicians and members from MoDOT will be providing a general inspection of your vehicle such as oil levels, tire pressure, lights, batteries, etc. They will also have information on hand to assist you with preventative maintenance and safety of your vehicle as well as to answer any questions you may have. Operation Checkpoint will be held at the Duchesne Circle on Friday, September 9th from 11am until 1 pm.. Please click here for a calendar of events.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to put out a fire? Provide basic first aid and triage? Perform light search and rescue? These are just some of the skills you will learn if you attend the 7 week Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training class that will begin on September 16th. The class will be held in ABAC 3245 from 1-3pm and will conclude on October 28th with a disaster scenario that will allow you to practice all the skills you have learned in the course. Please click her for more information on the class.
In July 2011, the Maryville University Public Safety Department was the host agency for the 14th annual Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) International Training and Certification Conference held at the Hilton by the Ballpark hotel in downtown Saint Louis. Director Parkinson, who is the Missouri State director for RAD, welcomed over 200 attendees from all over the United States and Canada. Attendees spent four days attending a variety of certification courses and instructional blocks. Maryville University sent four instructors to the conference. Public Safety Officers Mark Decker and Shawn Doyle, who are already certified to teach the basic and advanced RAD classes, received certification in "Replicating Adverse Dynamics" which is a new requirement for RAD instructors. Officer Kathy Janson, basic certified, also received certification as an advanced instructor as well as a Keychain Self-Defense Instructor. Residential Life Assistance Director Sarah Kwak, basic certified, received certification as a radKIDS instructor which is a dynamic safety program that we hope to offer as an outreach program to area communities as well as to our own Maryville family members who have young children and are worried about their safety. If you are interested in RAD or have any questions about the program, we can be reached at RAD@maryville.edu.
It was great to see many of our community members come out and support the many activities that was planned for campus safety month. It started on August 30th with our annual "click it or lick it" seat belt campaign and continued through the end of the month with our Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on September 30th. We assisted Residential Life with their "Outrageous Olympic" games and assisted with more serious programming dealing with issues of social network sites and its impact on employment, dangers of date rape drugs, and hosted a 4 week Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class that trained several women on how to protect themselves. The committee is already thinking about ways to make next years program even better. Please click here to check out some of the pictures from this years activities.
The Maryville University Public Safety department is pleased to welcome Dave Pacheco to the department. Dave is assigned to third shift patrol.
The Maryville University Public Safety department hosted the first ever national campus safety month (NCSM) program during the month of September. Several activities were held including a traffic safety seat belt initiative, a "Lunch & Learn" on emergency preparedness, and a panel discussion on dating violence that included a distinguished speaker from the Saint Louis area that spoke to several students on the topic of dating violence and sexual assault. Throughout the month, public safety officers promoted several crime prevention programs offered here at Maryville including Operation ID, Saints Alert, the Whistle Program, and the dangers of cyber space. The theme this year was " True Life--College Choices/Life Choices" and was based on many of the reality shows currently on TV today. We are already planning additional programs for next year as we hope to make this an annual event on campus.
Maryville University has adopted a new campus notification system, Saints Alert, which enables the University to send urgent news to your electronic communication device. Once you sign up for the service, the University can text your electronic communication device with timely information about emergencies affecting the Maryville community. Depending on your cell phone plan, there may be a nominal fee from your carrier to receive text messages but there is no charge from Maryville to use the service. The alert system is available to all current faculty, staff and students.
The new system, powered by e2Campus, enables Maryville officials to send instant alerts directly to registered subscribers' e-mail accounts and mobile phones via SMS text messages. Alerts also can be received via RSS Wireless PDA, "My Yahoo," "My AOL" or personalized "iGoogle" home page.
"It is evident from Virginia Tech as well as Hurricane Katrina that campuses must find ways to better communicate to the campus community in a timely manner. Text messaging has proven to be a valuable option,"said Michael Parkinson, Maryville's director of public safety. "We know a majority of people carry their cell phones at all times, so now we can reach them with important information that may end up saving their lives."
The Saints Alert is just one part of the overall emergency mass communication plan being developed for the University. Parkinson stated the University is currently reviewing the possibility of adding an outdoor warning system to help supplement the plan. "Once our community members sign up, the alerts go right to their cell phones the minute something happens," he said. "However, it only works if you take a minute to register yourself in the system."
To sign up for Saints Alert, go to the Maryville website homepage, http://www.maryville.edu/, and click on the link to "Public Safety" at the bottom of the page. Open the public safety page and at the top right hand corner of the page click on the link titled "Saints Alert". You will be asked to enter your Maryville username and password. After completing the sign-up page, you will receive a validation code on your electronic communication device. You must enter the code to complete the process to sign up for the text messaging. All users are encouraged to sign up for the e-mail alerts, especially if your phone does not allow text messages. For more information, call Parkinson at extension 9564.
In July 2007, Maryville University was host to over 120 campus officials from 80 different college & universities from all over the United States. The seminar, sponsored by Security on Campus, Inc., a non-profit campus security watchdog group, is providing training to help universities ensure they are complying with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
During the seminar, Maryville University received the prestigious Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award from Security on Campus for its leadership in being one of the six universities nationwide to host the training. "We are very grateful to the six universities which stepped up to the plate on short notice, offering not only their facilities but also their staff's time and expertise in ensuring that these seminars will be successful," said Catherine Bath, executive director of Security on Campus. The award, established in 1994, is presented each year by Howard & Connie Clery to honor schools and individuals that have done extraordinary things to make college and university students safer. Click here to read the article in the Maryville Messenger
In July 2007, the public safety department hosted the three-day course, "Simulation-based Incident Command System (ICS) Training for Command Post & Public Safety Response Personnel." sponsored by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. This training provided a nationally recognized program to standardize the response of campus public safety command-level personnel and their mutual aid partners to all types of serious incidents. It presented all stages of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and trained supervisory personnel in the application of ICS and the Unified Command concept. It provided a multi-disciplinary approach to incident management. The training covered all stages of the incident life cycle: prevention, preparedness, response (broken down into three phases), recovery, and mitigation, with exercises in a "model city" environment. The training methodology consisted of classroom instruction (response strategy, Incident Command System, NIMS), case studies (an in-depth examination of past response strategies in major events), and simulation exercises offering hands-on experience in response stage and incident management using ICS.
|
