NPC To Conduct Tornado Safety Drill

National Park College (NPC) will conduct a tornado safety training exercise Friday, April 19 beginning at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 11:00 a.m.

The drill will include all aspects of emergency response and will include participation by the NPC Security Office, LifeNet, Survival, the Garland County Sheriff’s Office, Piney Fire Department, the Hot Springs Police Department, the Arkansas State Police, the Garland County Department of Emergency Management, and the National Park Service.

The drill scenario will consist of a tornado with straight line winds gusting to 100 miles per hour that strikes the Piney Junction area and is headed toward the campus. NPC will issue practice alerts via social media and the campus emergency notification system that will include campus all-call, text, email and voice messages.

Emergency officials will be staged on Rockefeller Drive and Mid-America Boulevard to direct traffic. Helicopters will be staged in the Mid-America Science Museum parking area. The NPC gymnasium will serve as a mock triage area.

The exercise was coordinated by the NPC Security Office in an effort to take a proactive approach to campus safety and test emergency notifications systems.