UO Chief Resilience Officer André Le Duc told a state legislative committee that Oregon needs to do more to strengthen schools and improve mutual-aid agreements to respond quickly to life-threatening events like the recent shooting at Umpqua Community College.
During an appearance before a joint House and Senate judiciary committee Thursday, Le Duc said the UCC shooting showed the importance of having comprehensive incident management teams at schools to help speed the response and get people to safety quickly. The UO has the state’s only all-hazard incident management team at a school, college or university.
That team provided crucial assistance at UCC, and Le Duc has been included in discussions about how to formalize and expand the concept across the state.
“The UCC tragedy galvanized the higher education institutions to come together and establish a mutual-aid system to assist each other during times of need,” Le Duc said. “I anticipate a group to move quickly following the initial meeting.”
Mutual aid is an agreement among emergency response agencies to send people and equipment to neighboring communities or regions and lend help when a disaster strikes. The UO’s incident management team is prepared to respond to any type of incident, whether it’s a natural disaster, a health crisis or a physical threat.
Le Duc has been part of a team of higher education institutions working nationally to establish a national intercollegiate mutual aid agreement to streamline how colleges can help each other during a crisis or disaster.
The state-level discussions about higher education are occurring in parallel to a task force established by the Legislature in 2014 to review similar topics for K-12 schools in Oregon. The K-12 task force recently announced its recommendations, including a statewide tip line, regional threat assessment teams and a possible database for school floor plans. The recommendations will be proposed for lawmaker consideration in the 2016 legislative session.
The state fire marshal also has convened a team to review alignment of best practices for access security at schools and compliance with fire codes. UO fire marshal Joe Pedrola, who retired from Douglas County last year after 24 years of service, is participating in the state effort.
“The discussions underway and the attention focused on safety and prevention are critical for our state and it’s important for the UO to be engaged directly in these efforts,” Le Duc said.
While natural disaster and crises cannot be anticipated, Le Duc said working together as a community can lessen their aftermath and impact.