The university has taken a large step to prepare for the worst by improving the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Over the summer, the university remodeled and equipped an EOC, said Jon Roark, director of emergency preparedness They also installed indoor and outdoor mass notification speakers, he said.

During an emergency situation, university leadership and City of Fort Worth emergency personnel will meet in the EOC to receive information, make decisions and communicate with responders, he said.

Inside the EOC, 18 computers are arranged around a long central table. Four large televisions and maps of Texas, Fort Worth and the campus line the walls. A ceiling camera can project additional maps or planning information onto the wall. Along the back wall, there are radios on chargers and a fully stocked first aid kit.

“I’m really proud of TCU. They made a commitment to keep students, faculty and visitors safe,” Roark said. “It’s a big step. Money and space are at a premium at any university.”

Before now, the university did not have a specific space set aside for emergency management, said Lisa Albert, director of communications. Several places were identified that would work, but those were normally used for other purposes.

“It took time to set phone and communications up,” Roark said.

The new center’s computers have a database of what each building on campus is used for and what equipment is stored there, Roark said. He said communication links were installed so that real-time updates and photos can be displayed on the TVs.

Close partnerships strengthen the EOC’s abilities, he said. The center runs on the same software used by Fort Worth’s emergency management team to facilitate easy communication between systems, Roark said. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth is another partner, he said.

“If they say ‘This is a particularly dangerous storm,’ we react to that,” he said. “We include them in our emergency planning as well as the Fort Worth emergency management."

Aside from severe weather and other safety threats, the center will be used during football games and other events that draw large crowds, Roark said.

In the future, the university will also be able to activate and manage the indoor and outdoor mass notification speaker system from the EOC, Albert said.

The two-year contract to install the speakers began June 13, 2012 and installation is progressing on schedule, Roark said. Installation is complete inside more than 30 campus buildings and a sound check was run to determine the placement of the outdoor speakers. The seven outdoor speakers were delivered Sept.18, he said.

The tan-colored outdoor speakers are 21-inches-tall by 15-inches-wide, five-sided and have the same amount of power as those used in the Amon G. Carter Stadium, he said.

The speakers will be incorporated into the existing mass notification system that sends out emails and texts, he said. Once the system is complete, three clicks from the TCU Police will send out alerts via all methods.

“Mass notification will never be used for advertising or fight songs,” Roark said. “We want to maintain the integrity of the message.”

Private universities are not required to have mass notification systems or EOCs, he said. When TCU officials started looking into establishing a mass notification system five years ago, there were not a lot of companies offering entire systems including equipment and software, he said.

Keeping the university prepared starts at the top and filters down to deans, professors and then to students, Albert said.

Junior communication studies major Avery Eustace said she knows she should do more to be prepared, and she feels safer knowing the university is working to expand emergency procedures.

“At least you know in the event of a catastrophic problem, someone has a plan,” she said.

For more information, the university’s risk management website has basic instructions for students and faculty to help in case of warnings or evacuations.