Emergency Action Plans Necessity for Events
by Joyce Barbatti

Imagine being responsible for overseeing the safety of hundreds to thousands of people of all ages. You have to be prepared for everything from a twisted ankle, a lost child, a heart attack victim, a tornado or a potential riot. These are just some of the situations that are brainstormed when creating an emergency action plan for athletic events.

Many facilities in our area use emergency action plans. The obvious ones include the UNI-Dome, the McLeod Center and Wartburg’s facilities, as well as high school gymnasiums, Riverfront Stadium, Young Arena, Cedar Valley Youth Soccer Complex and all the leisure services ball diamonds around the area.

According to a report by the United States General Accounting Office, Key Elements of a Risk Management Approach, “A good risk management approach includes three primary elements: a threat assessment, a vulnerability assessment, and a criticality assessment.” Event managers consider all three of these elements when putting together an emergency plan.

The Department of Homeland Security partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi to create a security management model for university sporting events. This model came about with the assistance of academic professionals, sports venue management and former employees of the FBI, CIA and Secret Service (http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/introducing-risk-assessment-model-sport-venues).

In addition, the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security (NCS4) offers training workshops in cooperation with the NCAA. Environmental Tectonic Corp. recently released virtual reality simulator technology that can be used in place of live training at a much lower cost for facilities.

Actual emergency plans for each venue vary according to events and attendance. In general, most plans include organizational charts, emergency contact phone numbers and policies and procedures for reporting incidents as well as any documentation that is required when an incident occurs. UNI is required to file an Injury Report with the University Counsel’s office and file a copy with Dome Operations.

Plans also may include:

Security costs for the recent Winter Olympics were $1 billion. Cedar Valley facilities security costs are much lower, but still play a crucial role in public safety.

Sarah Harms, Assistant Director of Athletic Facilities at UNI, says it takes coordination with several different groups of people to assure the safety of all at events.

“We employ over 100 students throughout the year in the roles of security and ushers. At the beginning of the school year, we have training sessions that they are required to attend. We go over everything from how to handle certain situations, how to use the radio communications, how to give detailed descriptions of a situation and where they are so paramedics can respond quickly. We also do a brief recap with them before each event they work.”

Paramedics are on site for the majority of UNI events. Harms says before each major event, the Dome Operations staff has a meeting with UNI Public Safety and the paramedics to go over what is expected to occur at the event.

“For large events like the Iowa High School Football Playoffs or a concert, we utilize members of the Cedar Falls and Waterloo Police Departments, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office and several state troopers,” Harms said. “We usually have between 12 and 14 officers, some inside the Dome and others outside for traffic control. It’s those situations where you hope you never have to use all of the personnel to evacuate in an emergency, but you have to be prepared.”

Many athletic facilities feature emergency action equipment such as loud speakers, public address systems and communications directly connected with city and state emergency personnel.

Young Arena has a few unique issues to consider in its emergency plan. Chris Dolan, arena manager, explains. “We have ammonia on site as well as propane that we use for our ice so we prepare for possible leaks with those in our plan. We have specific designated exits to use if those occur.”

Young Arena’s plan also covers the potential of a battery explosion on the Zamboni. The plans are reviewed annually and updated periodically.

Another important component to emergency plans is a media plan. Event supervisors should be trained on what to say in the event of an emergency and how to say it. Strong relationships with media are important before a crisis hits. Sometimes these media rushes come about even without a specific emergency.

Several years ago, the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids booked Marilyn Manson for a concert just prior to the Columbine shooting. After the tragedy, the staff of the Center received hundreds of calls from concerned, upset citizens. Staff was able to be proactive and issue statements in the media to cool the frenzy and regain control of what could have been an unruly, unsafe situation (http://www.iaam.org/Facility_manager/Pages/2003_Jan_Feb/Feature_4.htm).

In addition to protecting the public at events, this past fall all UNI departments were required to create a plan for continuity of operations. “It came about because of the H1N1 flu,” explained Harms. “Every department had to put together an organizational chart in case there were mass absences in our offices.”

The biggest challenge Young Arena faced in recent years was the floods of ’08. “That was a unique situation. We all did the best we could to keep the water out,” Dolan said. UNI also was affected by the floods but in the role of a shelter. UNI partnered with the Red Cross to use the West Gym as a shelter for those affected by the floods.

Facilities managers always hope events go smoothly, but it is essential to be prepared to handle any emergency in the most efficient and effective way possible. Emergency action plans save lives and protect property.