Crisis Management Group looks to learn from Dawson College attack

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September 18, 2006

The University's Crisis Management Group met late last week to review McMaster's emergency planning in the wake of the shooting at Dawson College.

“We routinely meet after any such incident to take another look at our own planning,” said Karen Belaire, chair of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) and vice-president, Administration. “We have a comprehensive crisis plan in place which we test and revise regularly but there's always something we can learn when this type of tragic incident happens. Our goal is to continuously enhance our security and improve our response.” For more information about the Crisis Response Plan, please click here.

McMaster has always worked closely with the Hamilton Police Service and other agencies to ensure that the University's emergency planning is based on best practices from across North America. The head of McMaster security, Terry Sullivan, will be meeting with police again this week for additional guidance on how the University can best train individuals to act if a shooting was to occur.

Sullivan says, “The campus is an open community so every member needs to be alert to potential threats to security and should be familiar with how to get help if needed.”

Security on campus can be reached a number of ways, including dialing “88” from any university phone. There are also security buttons on all campus pay phones, and red emergency phones across campus. Please visit www.mcmaster.ca/security/ for more information.

The CMG is a small team that oversees all university operations and communications in the event of a crisis. Members include:

  • Karen Belaire, chair and vice-president, Administration
  • Fred A. Hall, co-chair and associate vice-president academic
  • Phil Wood, co-chair and associate vice-president Student Affairs and dean of students
  • Tony Cupido, director, Physical Plant
  • Andrea Farquhar, director, Public and Government Relations
  • Steve Fletcher, manager, Employee Occupational Health and Support Services
  • Mark Haley, associate vice-president, Human Resources
  • Terry Sullivan, director, Parking and Security Services

    Belaire says, “CMG has recently been focusing on pandemic planning and how we would be able to continue to operate the core functions of the University if a pandemic or other event meant the majority of employees were unable to attend work.”

    The crisis group is called together several times each year to manage a wide range of issues from fires and floods to power outages and public health issues.

    “Our most significant issue with which we've had to deal over the past few years was SARS,” says Belaire. “We learned a lot about how to handle a crisis of that dimension and complexity, and even more importantly how to work together as a team to respond to any situation that may arise.”