Dear Geography faculty, staff, and student colleagues,

 

I received notice just yesterday that the campus will perform it annual, mandatory fire drill for the Burchfiel Geography Building on April 21, 2021 at 10:15am.

 

I have not received a wealth of information (other than directions below).  All folks in BGB during the fire drill—including students in classes—will be asked to exit Burchfiel for no more than 10 minutes.  If you have a class meeting at that time, please plan accordingly.  If faculty wish not to be part of this exercise then they should plan on not coming to work that day.  Staying in one’s office while the drill is conducted is not allowed.

  

As the instructional below outline: “Once the alarm sounds, all occupants will be asked to depart the building and meet at the designated point for accountability.” For us in Burchfiel, we have two designated areas.  One can exit the building on first floor, safely cross street and stand in front of the Student Union.  One can also exit the third floor and ten proceed to stand in front of Walters Academic Building (formerly Walters Life Sciences Building). We will stay in those locations until we are told by officials that we can come back in.

 

Very important: All COVID precautions and safeguards should be practiced during fire drill. All participants should wear a mask at all times, practice social distancing, and avoid situations of occupying cramped or close quarters. When you leave an office for the fire drill, close the door behind you and ensure that it is locked for security purposes.

 

I will be on-site the morning of April 21 to assist with the exercise and point of contact with university officials.

 

Best wishes and thanks,

DA

 

 

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FIRE DRILL PROCEDURES:

Fire drills are designed to be as unintrusive as possible. We take deliberate steps to ensure the drill takes place as efficiently and quickly as possible from start to finish. Below are some basic guidelines:

• Everyone assisting in the fire drill and the primary point of contact for the location will meet 15-minutes prior to the drill
• Once the alarm sounds, all occupants will be asked to depart the building and meet at the designated point for accountability
• The drill takes approximately 10-minutes from start to finish
• The point of contact for the location will be asked to meet after the drill to discuss any discrepancies and corrective actions required
• Total time required of the point of contact is approximately 30-minutes
• Total time of disruption for occupants is approximately 10-15 minutes.

 

These drills are critical for ensuring the safety and well-being of all UT students, faculty, staff and visitors. Thank You, for your consideration.

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Derek H. Alderman, PhD

He / Him / His

Professor of Geography & Interim Head

Department of Geography, University of Tennessee

Betty Lynn Hendrickson Professor of Social Science

Voice: (865) 974-0406

Founder & Co-Coordinator, Tourism RESET

Past President, American Association of Geographers (2017-18)

Email: [log in to unmask], Twitter: @MLKStreet