Miami University Crisis Team At The Ready For Campus Emergencies

BY MARGOT AUSTIN and ISABELLE HANSON
Miami University journalism students

With the recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and at Texas Tech campus, Miami University is prepared for large-scale crises.

Miami freshman Emily Dattilo was walking out of class on what seemed like a normal Monday.
Then her friend texted her about the Las Vegas shooting.

“Just like surprised that that could even happen. And just feeling really sad for all of those
people affected. And just underneath that just hope. Hope that things like that would not happen
anymore,” says Dattilo.

Miami’s crisis management team and institutional response team work with Miami police to train
once a year for mass crises.

Captain Benjamin Spilman of Oxford Police Department is part of Miami’s crisis management
team

“We don’t know what motivates an offender or what sort of planning they might have done or what sort of equipment or what things they might have so a lot of it is just practicing scenarios that our officers can adapt to whatever they are encountering in the field,” says Spilman.

Miami’s crisis teams use a mobile crisis call center to communicate with students and staff. The
call center has 16 phones that are set up in one room.

Along with text and email alerts, Miami also updates students through blue light towers. Located around campus, each tower’s voice alerts project 500 feet.

Miami’s most recent use of the alert system was only a test. Dattilo wants to keep it that way.
“When I’m bothered about something I just tend to write about it. Like that’s the medium I use,”
says Datillo.

She sent her poem asking for an end to gun violence to The New York Times. It was posted 15 minutes later.

“She emailed me and was like check the front page of the online New York Times because your
story is right there, which was really cool,” says Dattilo.

Claire Wagner, director of Miami's News and Communication office, is a member of the crisis
response team. She reacted to the Vegas shooting in her own way.

"I pay attention to who’s at the news conference -- if they are going to have a news conference
and what did they say, who is in charge of that message. And we’ve learned from some of that.
Those are the thoughts that I have. How can I learn from what’s going on,” Wagner said.

Wagner advises students to keep emergency phone numbers in their phone contacts, stay aware
of their surroundings, and always be in control in case of an emergency.

Top photo: This report comes from Miami's Oxford Weekly News team. -- Contributed photo