Last Thursday, flyers were posted and e-mails sent out about a new outdoor emergency warning system to communicate with the campus in case of emergency.
Students, faculty, and staff will hear the system for the first time today as it’s being tested from 9 a.m. to noon.
The system consists of three large public address speakers placed on the main campus and the James H. Quillen College of Medicine on the VA campus.
The speakers are able to broadcast across both campuses several voice messages and tones, such as horns and sirens.
“I think it would be personally a good idea but if there’s different siren sounds then they need to let students get used to them,” said freshman Athena Byrd.
“The nice thing about these systems are that they are voice modulated so you don’t really need to know what the sounds are like or mean,” said Daniel O’Brien, the director of health and safety.
During testing, the sirens will probably be heard by people near campus.
ETSU will notify the campus and the surrounding community of any further testing.
The emergency system is set up to go off during an immediate life-threatening situation such as a tornado or other severe weather conditions, chemical hazard, or an armed person on campus.
A siren will be accompanied by a recorded announcement with instructions like “Take cover now.”
When the situation is over, a second announcement signals “All clear. Resume normal activities.”
“It’s a good and a bad idea because say someone is holding up a classroom, blaring the sirens could just set them off,” said Robert Rusham.
“The reason for the siren is that there’s no faster way to notify campus and quicker way to let everyone know when something’s going on. There’s no one comprehensive system to let everyone know when something happens. It’s really the fast way to get the message across to everyone,” said O’Brien.

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