Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Local city and emergency management officials are working with their Mississippi State counterparts to test distinct emergency siren tones that can immediately distinguish a drill from a potentially life-threatening weather emergency.
For some time, local emergency officials have scheduled siren tests at noon on the first Tuesday of each month. That schedule will continue.
Beginning Nov. 6, however, emergency management officials will broadcast a continuous tone that will be used in the future for drill situations only. Following a moment of silence, that tone will be followed by the test of a separate warbling tone that now will signal an emergency situation for which campus and Starkville community residents should take action.
"During a recent severe weather incident on our campus, there was much confusion about whether we were in a drill or in an emergency situation," said Jim Jones, a coordinator of MSU's Crisis Action Team. "We hope distinct tones--a continuous tone for tests and a warbling tone for real-life emergencies--will go a long way toward resolving that issue for those on and off campus."
Jones said that the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency, which also participates in MSU's crisis action response team, regularly tests the emergency notification sirens and, along with the city of Starkville, is supporting the effort.
"We want to provide a single tone that immediately signals 'take safety precautions,'" Jones said.
In the event of weather-related emergencies such as a tornado, officials constantly remind citizens to move away from windows and go to a centrally located room at the lowest level of a building. Persons caught outdoors are advised to seek safe shelter immediately.
When an emergency occurs, MSU provides notifications and information through MSU's Web site, e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging, as well as through local broadcast news outlets. Jones emphasized that no single method of communication is completely reliable.
"One of the safest things to do is to exercise caution and to make personal safety a top priority," he said. "We encourage students, faculty and staff always to err on the side of caution."
For more information about MSU emergency response communications, visit http://www.emergency.msstate.edu/.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.