August 6, 2008

Loudspeaker installed in bell tower, to be tested Friday

During the test, emergency tones and live audio messages will be carried over the loudspeaker and should be disregarded, said Carol Shelby, senior director of environmental health and public safety.

The Purdue Bell Tower is located in the center of campus just off Centennial Mall Drive. The test will demonstrate how far the voice messages can be heard, Shelby said.

"Once we determine that, we will then be able to prerecord messages that are pertinent to specific buildings in the coverage area, and we'll be able to activate appropriate messages for the situation from a remote computer should the need ever arise," she said.

In an actual emergency, the use of the loudspeaker will indicate a major disaster or imminent threat involving the entire campus and/or surrounding community.

The loudspeaker will become part of Purdue Alert, the multilayered emergency notification system. Other parts of Purdue Alert include the use of mass e-mail, Facebook, mass text-messaging, Boiler TV, the media and campus sirens. Depending upon the severity of the situation, some or all of the notifications could be utilized.

More information about the alert system can be found on the Purdue Emergency Preparedness Web site at https://www.purdue.edu/emergency_preparedness/  

Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Source: Carol Shelby, (765) 494-7504, cshelby@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

To the News Service home page