The Great ShakeOut drill set to prepare students, faculty

To further enhance its outlet in promoting earthquake safety, the Natural Sciences Division and Campus Safety will construct a practice evacuation drill Oct. 15 in the 300 Building at about 10 a.m.

“FC has done a lot to make the campus more earthquake safe, but there are more things that can be done,” said Richard Lozinsky, professor of earth science at FC. “Discussing with each class what to do during and after an earthquake would be very helpful.”

At 10:05 a.m. Campus Safety will be pulling the fire alarm in the 300 Building and instructors who have agreed to participate will ask students to drop, cover and hold on to their desk.

After this, professors and Floor Evacuation Marshalls will assist students to the safe zone in the quad.

At 10:15 a.m. Chris Kiger, director of health services, will demonstrate how to use the Stryker Chair — a chair used to safely remove physically disabled people — located on the second floor.

Kiger will be taking a volunteer student who will be seated on the chair to demonstrate how to lower the vehicle down the north second floor stairwell of the 300 Building.

“The goal of this event is to educate and highlight individual responsibility for personal safety during emergencies like an earthquake,” said Jim McKamy, campus safety coordinator.

After the simulation is over, there will be a presentation on the new Building Evacuation Marshall and Floor Evacuation Marshall program in Room 326.

“I feel that this event is a great first step in educating everyone on the importance of planning for any emergency,” McKamy said.

In addition, the Natural Sciences Division will have information tables in the quad from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. They will have brochures about earthquake preparedness Geosciences faculty and students, California State University of Fullerton students and campus safety officers are available to answer any questions regarding earthquakes.

Last week, Dr. David Bowman from CSUF gave a presentation on earthquake safety attracted around 100 people.

“Students and faculty that I spoke with said the presentation was a ‘real eye-opener’ in terms of the damage that could occur during an earthquake and how it would cause these injuries,” Lozinsky said.

With so many events help students be more aware of emergencies, McKamy hopes everyone will get good information out of this week.

“I hope everyone learns that the proper steps to take during an earthquake are ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold,’” McKamy said.