Alert Carolina has changed

The University will test its emergency sirens today between noon and 1 p.m. as part of the safety awareness campaign Alert Carolina.

The campaign, which strives to be the go-to information source for the UNC community in times of crisis, has evolved since its conception in March 2008.

In response to test results and actual emergencies on campus, the system has expanded how it reaches people and when it is used.

Today’s siren test will be an indicator of Alert Carolina’s efforts to maintain visibility at UNC and guage campus response.

“The face of the campus community is always changing,” said Randy Young, spokesman for UNC’s Department of Public Safety. “We test every semester to make sure the community understands what Alert Carolina is and how to work with it.”

Patty Courtright, director of internal communications in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, said Alert Carolina managers also use the tests to improve the system.

“Every time we test, we learn a little bit more about it,” she said. “We’re always trying to get better.”

Initial launch

Alert Carolina first launched as a way to improve campus safety less than a year after the shooting at Virginia Tech.

The system consisted of four sirens spread across campus. Young said initial program tests revealed some serious coverage issues, with some areas of campus reporting that the sirens weren’t audible.

Since those first tests, the campaign has added a new siren on North Campus to fill those holes.

The program also upgraded siren tones to make them distinguishable from other emergency sirens and enhanced the clarity of public address announcements.

The sirens are only used for three situations: an armed and dangerous person on or near campus, a major chemical spill or hazard, or a tornado sighting.

An evolving system

These limitations on the alert system caused problems during a Feb. 15 bomb threat against the University. Alert Carolina took more than two hours to communicate the situation to students because it wasn’t classified as one of the three scenarios.

Courtright said the program has updated to incorporate “non-siren situations” such as bomb threats.

If Public Safety determines a situation is serious but doesn’t warrant the sirens, notifications are placed on Alert Carolina and UNC’s Web pages and the emergency situations committee determines if a text message is necessary.

Courtright said this process is a change brought about by experience. She estimated the Alert Carolina program has almost 33,000 people registered for cell phone updates via text message.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.