McMaster will test its emergency notification systems January 5 beginning at 10:20 a.m.

Some of the activity will be audible to local residents and businesses, however no action is required and campus activity should proceed as normal.

The test will involve a number of components:

• Sounding the outdoor emergency siren alert system
• Sounding indoor sirens in the Student Centre, the MDCL and DBAC/IWC
• Verbal messages on outdoor red assistance phones
• Testing LCD screens with audible/visual alerts (screens are located in each academic building)
• Testing McMaster’s mobile safety app
• Testing of the desktop notification system on campus computers

The university is updating the campus alert system for emergencies. A free app-based Alertus system is replacing the previous text-message alert for on-campus notifications.

The text-message alert system will be used one final time on Jan. 5, to let the campus community know Security Services is testing emergency sirens around McMaster.

Read: McMaster’s Emergency Guidebook

When used during a real emergency, the siren alert system indicates that campus is in lockdown mode. In the event of a lockdown, the campus community should take shelter in the nearest room, close all entry doors and ensure the locks are fastened. They should remain quiet, act as if no one is in the room and remain still until emergency responders provide the all-clear.

Security Services operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the University’s Communications Centre, located in the E.T. Clarke building.