NOTE: The following is an editorial by Kenneth Wong, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of 360 News.
On March 10, Arizona State University, along with various county and state agencies, conducted Coyote Crisis, which was meant to test the emergency preparedness and response of the participants, and how each agencies deal with the crisis.
I volunteered as a member of the mock media for this training exercise, and while I was very pleased to be able to practice my journalistic skills in a “time of crisis”, I left the exercise completely dismayed at ASU’s handling of a crisis, and fearful of our safety during a real crisis.
The exercise began at around 8:30AM, when a bomb exploded on the north side of Sun Devil Stadium, during a simulated football game. Afterwards, I, along with other members of the mock media, immediately began to ask questions at the press briefing area. Staff from ASU’s Media Relations Department answered questions, but immediately, they began to show their lack of command on basic ASU procedures.
There are many examples, but the most glaring one was when I asked a question on whether the entire ASU Tempe campus is in lockdown. The official answering question said he does not know, while his staff, standing right beside him, asked openly on whether ASU has any lockdown plans. The question was repeated around 4 times, and ASU officials simply said they don’t know, until the question was once again repeated at the State’s Joint Incident Command center, where the response was “no”.
Other examples where the answer was unknown (some were left unanswered, even at the end of the training session) include:
- Biohazards from blood
- Number of ASU students affected, in comparison to the number of students affected who are from the opposing university at a football game
- The whereabouts of ASU President Michael Crow (who did not participate in the exercise), and whether President Crow would make a statement
- Whether those inside the stadium at the time included any public figures or dignitaries
- Whether the stadium, which suffered a partial collapse, is in any danger of collapsing completely
When the questions got a little too tough, the Public Relations people simply walked away from the press briefing.
Later on during the exercise, the Wells Fargo Arena was reported to have suffered some structural damage from the explosion. However, more questions were raised than answered with that announcement.
- The blast being on the north side of Sun Devil Stadium, how did it affect Wells Fargo Arena, which is situated on the south side of Sun Devil Stadium, with a garden separating the two structures?
- What caused the damage?
- Did another attack happen?
Finally, discrepancies between death tolls and injuries, and what caused the explosion also existed between the two press briefings at ASU Police Headquarters and Arizona’s Joint Incident Command (JIC) center.
At the JIC, the death toll was around 55, while ASU authorities said the death toll was 27. The JIC also said the explosion was caused by an 18-wheeler tanker (what it was carrying was still under investigation), while ASU’s briefings neglected to mention this.
From what has happened yesterday, it is apparent that ASU still needs to refine its system, train its staff, and do whatever is necessary to prevent the kind of miscommunication and confusion from happening during a real crisis. The slogan for this training was “One Voice, One Message”, but this exercise has shown that there are too many messages, and perhaps too many voices.
We have one year to correct this, before the next exercise. I hope ASU can learn and improve. Students’ lives are at risk.
