Date: 11/13/2007

San Jos?? State University to Participate in Disaster Preparedness Exercise

Contact:
Pat Lopes Harris, 408-924-1748

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- San José State University is among 45 public agencies statewide participating in Golden Guardian 2007, an exercise organized by the California Governor's Office of Homeland Security to test the government's ability to respond to and recover from natural and man-made disasters. The exercise will be staged in four cities on Wednesday, November 14. In San Jos??, first responders will be dispatched to the San Jos?? Municipal Stadium and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds to treat volunteers acting as victims of a mass attack with serious public health consequences. Read the media advisory from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security [PDF]. Read the media advisory from the City of San Jos?? [PDF].You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files.

At San Jos?? State, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be called to order. All university emergency personnel will meet at the University Room for seminars and tabletop exercises. Meanwhile, the Office of Public Affairs and University Police Department will participate in the exercise off campus. Public Affairs will help staff a joint information center run collectively by all agencies involved in the exercise. The center will serve the public and media, and will be tested by mock media, including SJSU journalism students. The University Police Department will close the municipal stadium student parking lot during the morning and early afternoon to make way for the exercise.

This is the second time San Jos?? State will participate in Golden Guardian, which the state has held annually since 2004. SJSU's participation this year is directly linked to efforts to enhance the university's ability to respond to disasters in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. Projects underway include thorough training for all EOC and Building Emergency Team (BET) personnel. BETs are responsible for helping police evacuate specific buildings. Emergency training and materials will be offered to all employees and students, and SJSU will augment its alert-and-warning capabilities by procuring public-address, voice-and-text-messaging and exterior-door lockdown systems. These systems will be phased in over the next two years.

All improvements will enhance the university's existing safety measures. The EOC and BETs have been in place for many years. SJSU has long had its own police force, which employs 33 sworn officers trained to respond to all emergencies including active shooters with assistance from the San Jos?? Police Department. For the most timely and extensive information available during a campus emergency, check SJSU's homepage. The university also has the capacity to e-mail and telephone all employees and e-mail all students through their MySJSU computer accounts. Other sources of information include SJSU's emergency hotline (408-924-SJSU), radio station (KSJS 90.5 FM), and the major media including Bay Area radio and television stations. Read more.

San Jos?? State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 4,000 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city.