People who live in dorms, apartments, and even their own houses may not know what to do in case of emergencies.
Those residing in the dorms on Tyler Junior College campus have been affected by the hurricane season which is the reason TJC provides access to information about emergency procedures.
“We have hall meetings at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year telling students everything they need to know about living on campus – about what to do in case there is an emergency,” said Mark Hurta, resident assistant of Holley Hall.
The TJC emergency procedures for students residing in the dorms are located in the Residential Life Handbook.
“They pass out [handbooks] at Orientation,” said Nixon Marc, a resident of Holley Hall.
TJC has different procedures for different circumstances concerning each hall in case of a fire, tornado, or some other catastrophic event.
“In case of a fire, we go outside and wait until a firefighter tells you to go somewhere else or a director. Chemical spills, we call our supervisors and they notify the necessary people to take care of it. We can lock down the buildings [residential halls] in case someone has a gun. For tornado drills, we go inside the closet and shut the door or bathroom,” said Hurta.
“There is a fire extinguisher in the laundry room,” said Marc.
All drills must be in accordance with State Fire Codes and it is mandatory that all students and their guests participate. The drills must be repeated if the completion time does not meet safety standards.
If a student or staff member fails to comply during drills or actual emergencies then that individual will receive serious disciplinary action.
Melody Huff, area coordinator of Residential Life, said that disciplinary action is case by case situation.
Recently, Tyler endured extreme weather as a result of two hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
Marc said the students at Holley Hall had a meeting concerning Ike. However, they did not have to put those procedures into practice when Ike came.
“Nothing happened except the lights went out for a short second in one part of the campus a few days after the hurricane [Ike],” said Hurta.
Hurta said that there will be a fire drill coming up soon for all residential halls.
Further information concerning Emergency Procedures inside the handbook is found on TJC’s website and Residential Life office.
