The safety and security department at Fordham University, along with the New York City Police Department, ran a successful evacuation drill of the University’s Lincoln Center campus at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.
The drill’s objective was to test the readiness of Fordham to respond to a campus-wide emergency at its Manhattan location. The University community was told about the drill on Oct. 1 in an e-mail message from John Carroll, assistant vice president for safety and security.
“This drill was necessary to ensure that our University community is prepared and confident should an actual emergency occur in the future,” Carroll said. “We have practiced such scenarios in the past as tabletop exercises, but there is no better training than a live drill.”
The entire University community was told about the drill, as many students, faculty and staff at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx also spend time at the Lincoln Center campus. At 2:45 p.m., Fordham sent a reminder about the evacuation via its emergency notification system.
Carroll added that the drill was timed at 3 p.m. on Friday so that it would have the least possible impact on the mission of the University while still accomplishing its goal of providing an accurate assessment of Fordham’s emergency preparedness.
Evacuees were told to follow the directions of the floor wardens within their buildings, members of the University’s safety and security staff, facilities personnel assigned to assist in the drill, and police officers stationed on West 62nd Street.
The University sent an all-clear message at 4:05 p.m., again through its emergency notification system, letting the campus community know that the drill had reached a successful conclusion.
