Heartland Community College prepared for emergencies

Posted on October 2, 2015

By Adam Studzinski

NORMAL – Heartland Community College has plans in place to handle emergency situations in the event of something similar to Thursday’s campus shooting in Oregon.

Heartland Executive Director of Facilities Jim Hubbard said in the event of an active shooter the number one priority is to notify everyone on campus.

“They have to be the ones that make a determination; do they evacuate the building to safety? Or do they shelter themselves in place?” Hubbard said.

The college has an emergency notification system which can be used to send a mass message to students and staff.

Hubbard explained the college also has training for staff, and even conducts drills to test their plans.

“Two years ago we had a drill here at Heartland College where we simulated having a shooter event,” said Hubbard. “We sent out a notice to everyone through our emergency notification system and everybody took shelter.”

Hubbard added Heartland, similar to most other colleges and universities, has a threat assessment team which is constantly observing the behavior of everyone on campus and looking out for any suspicious behavior.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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