Last week community members teamed up with University of Wisconsin-Superior faculty and staff at Ready Week to provide information to students on preparing for emergencies and staying safe.

Equipped with a table and attractive brochures, UWS Public Safety Director Gary Gulbrandson educated students on the campus’ mass notification system. The new system provides emergency messages within buildings as well as exterior parts of campus. Gulbrandson explained that after two short tones are emitted, verbal emergency instructions are given. He encourages students to stop immediately when the tones are sounded and  to respond quickly to directions provided.

Community firefighter and inspector Lindzi Campbell provided students with life-saving information in preparation for fire emergencies. It is vital, Campbell explained, that the battery of your smoke detector is never taken out under any circumstance. Likewise, covering up the equipment to muffle the sound is extremely dangerous.

“There is quite a bit of risk,” Campbell warned of the dangers of illegally pulling an alarm. Campbell and her fellow firefighters must  get up and accompany three responding trucks to go to the area of alarm and evacuate stragglers who haven’t left the building. She also talked about the risk of car collisions and accidents on the way to a false alarm, as well as the possibility of a true emergency that will not have the attention it deserves when two calls come in at once.

Along with Campbell, Carol Lindberg, who is the Director of Environmental Health and Safety at UWS, encouraged students who live off campus to test their fire detectors. If a fire inspector finds a home is not safe, it is required by law that landlords must replace the smoke detectors.

For further campus safety information, Gulbrandson encourages students to visit the Campus Safety website at http://www.uwsuper.edu/safety/ and click on the available link to watch the 'Stay Safe at College' video. As a reminder to students, faculty and staff -- this week the Environmental Health and Safety and Campus Safety departments will be conducting fire drills, so be prepared for alarms.