Southwest shakes it out for national earthquake drill

On October 19, Southwest Tennessee Community College participated in the Great Central U. S. Shake Out, the region’s largest earthquake drill ever! All colleges and universities were encouraged to participate. When an earthquake hits, seconds count if lives are to be saved. This was our chance to practice and demonstrate how prepared we are to protect ourselves, Southwest Police Services Director Lezley A. Webb said. The goal of the drill was to prevent a major earthquake from becoming a catastrophe for the college community. To respond quickly, it takes practice, practice, practice.

The drill began promptly at 10:19 a.m. with 1,845 participants at all campus locations, including the child care facilities and Southwest Early College High School (SECHS). Everyone did a great job of dropping to the floor or ground, covering their heads and holding on to a table or desk until 10:22 a.m. when the drill was concluded, Webb said. Even Tennessee Board of Regents officials who were visiting for a meeting in the Nursing, Natural Science & Biotechnology Building on the Union Avenue campus participated. We had a very successful drill and full participation at all of Southwest Tennessee Community College locations, Webb said.

Webb says the key to the successful drill was teamwork and that Police Services/Public Safety department could not have pulled the drill off without the invaluable contributions of Southwest Emergency Response Team (SERT) members like Computer Laboratory Technician Brian Stuckey. Stuckey’s creativity and tech know-how helped the College navigate the large-scale drill. Since this was a college-wide drill, we didn’t have enough police radios to successfully communicate with everyone on the SERT team, Webb said. Brian had the creative idea for the team to download the free Zello Walkie Talkie App. Webb used the app to create the STCC SERT channel that members were able to access as a group, allowing the entire team to communicate in real time over the airwaves.

Kudos to the Southwest SERT members and the entire campus for a job well done!