Southeast prepared in case of crisis

Southeast Missouri State University officials are advising that the university is prepared to handle a crisis such as the one experienced at Virginia Tech Monday.

Dr. Kenneth Dobbins, university president, said the campus police force of 18 trained police officers is equipped to act as first responders in such an event.

The campus has held building evacuation drills and has an established emergency operations center with equipment needed to protect the safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus in the event of a crisis, added DPS Director Doug Richards.

Dobbins said the university is equipped with sirens, speaker systems and other devices to warn people on campus of an emergency and each campus building has emergency routes and a designated building coordinator responsible for implementing emergency evacuation plans.

A crisis management team is available with highly trained health and counselors to respond when a crisis presents itself, he said.

For more details about this story, log back on to www.semissourian.com or read Thursday's Southeast Missourian.