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By Mike Bryan

In an emergency, dial 911.

At the beginning of this semester, IVCCs new emergency procedures went into effect with emergency calls from anywhere on campus to go directly to the Oglesby Police Department. Those emergencies include medical emergencies, and reports of fire or bomb threats.

The new procedures also explain how weather alerts, power outages and college closings will be handled.

Frank Papke, vice president of business services, said emergency procedures had been non-existent or unclear before the Risk Management Committee adopted these procedures.

"People wondered what they were supposed to do," Papke said.

Now the procedures are available in a booklet and faculty are being asked to review the procedures at the beginning of a semester.

Prior to the start of this semester, the number to dial for medical emergencies was 600. The operator would then contact the First Responders, a medical emergency team on campus. Now, all medical emergency calls will be to 911. The Oglesby Police Dispatch will then contact IVCCs safety services who will notify the First Reponders by radio.

Ron Groleau, coordinator of the First Responders, said he had been concerned as to how the new procedures would affect the response time of the First Responders, but he had been assured that the team would be notified within a minute of the call being placed to the Oglesby 911 system.

"The importance of this (notification time) is obvious for some of our calls as mere seconds and minutes matter," Groleau said.

Groleau said the new procedure of dialing 911 first is an issue of liability for the college.

"Our insurance company has informed us that we need to dial 911 first," he explained. "This will ensure that the ambulance is rolling."

Papke said the impact of calls going directly to the Oglesby Police is that the police can be on the scene in a matter of moments.

In addition to new procedures, the college also has a new emergency warning system, installed during the fall semester by Heart Electronics and Koener Electronics, both of Peoria, at an estimated cost of $575,000. For severe weather, a tornado watch or warning, a weather alert siren will be sounded.

Papke said the alarm system is being tested regularly on weeknights and holidays when the campus is closed.