For Immediate Release
August 15, 2000

South Hadley Police and Fire Districts 1 and 2 Will Join Mount Holyoke
Public Safety in Simulation of Dorm Fire;
Smoke to Fill Pearsons Residence Hall on Route 116 For One-Hour Drill

South Hadley, Mass.—At 6 PM on Wednesday, August 16, South Hadley police along with fire officials from Fire Districts 1 and 2 will participate in the annual campus emergency simulation at Mount Holyoke College. This year's simulation will be a fire drill at Pearsons Residence Hall, which is located on Route 116 by the Gaylord Library. In addition to the local fire and police forces, it is expected that Holyoke Hospital paramedics will also join the drill.

"These annual drills test our joint response to emergency situations. The simulation helps to ensure that resources and communications between the local authorities and the College are coordinated," explains Paul Ominisky, director of public safety at the College.

As part of the drill, six to eight college employees, members of the nighttime custodial crew, will be hidden in the dorm and marked with tags describing various injuries. Fake smoke will also be deployed by the fire department. A debriefing session will be held from 7 to 8 PM to review lessons learned from the evening's simulation. This is an unannounced drill, meaning that most members of the fire department, police department and the College's public safety office have not been informed that a drill will be occurring.

The event is part of the College's and South Hadley's ongoing emergency-preparedness process. Officials from Mount Holyoke and the town meet regularly to discuss and plan for crisis situations. In addition to an annual simulation, the emergency professionals and volunteers also work through tabletop drills on a yearly basis. The College and town switchoff in their planning—with one drill focusing on how the town could help the College in the event of a campus emergency and the next drill, in turn, testing how the College and its resources could assist the town in the event of a townwide emergency.

The last fire drill to be held at the College was during the summer of 1998. Last summer, the College simulated a bomb threat in its chemistry labs. The next tabletop drill will tackle a water disaster in South Hadley. Officials will hold the drill on October 4 at the South Hadley police department.