SFA Gears Up for Major Full-Scale Safety Training Exercise This Weekend

In this day and time, we never know what events are going to unfold, or when. What we do know is that when those events do happen, we want our officers, first responders, emergency management personnel, EVERYBODY to be prepared to handle them as quickly as possible. To be prepared to do that, those officials have to be trained, and the training needs - NEEDS - to be as close to the real event as it can be.

That's why this Saturday, April 25th, Stephen F. Austin State University officials, UTS Police Department at SFA, SFA's Emergency Management staff, and local and regional public safety personnel will be conducting a full-scale Safety Training Exercise.

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SFA Safety Training Exercise Details

All of the details of this training have not been released in order to ensure a controlled training environment. However, the details that have been released are pretty straightforward. This exercise is considered a full-scale active threat and mass casualty response exercise that will take place in Nacogdoches near campus - the exact location will not be disclosed, so that the exercise will remain as close to a real-life event as possible.

This is not just an exercise that involves SFA staff members. It will include local law enforcement, fire departments, EMS personnel, emergency management personnel outside of SFA, and Nacogdoches ISD partners. This will help to strengthen community preparedness across the board. According to the provided information, this exercise is designed to test everything from communication systems to response protocols and more on a multi-agency level. It's a hands-on training experience that will benefit everyone involved.

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A Note to Community Members Concerning SFA Safety Training Exercise

Information that I received from SFA did mention that people around the community might notice an increased amount of emergency vehicles and personnel during the exercise. They did stress that this is to be viewed as only an exercise, and that there will not be a threat to the SFA campus or the surrounding Nacogdoches community.

Korbin Pate, Executive Director of University Marketing Communications at SFA, gave this statement:

“At SFA, the safety of our campus is a top priority, and preparation is key to that commitment. Full-scale training exercises like this ensure we are prepared to respond effectively in any situation. We’re grateful for the continued partnership of our local and regional public safety agencies. Together, we’re ensuring we’re ready to respond and protect those we serve.”

So, if you're out and about on Saturday and notice more emergency personnel around Nacogdoches than usual, don't be concerned. They're just training and preparing in case a real-world event did take place, making sure that they can keep SFA, Nacogdoches and the surrounding community safe.