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#2 John Brewers Bay  St. Thomas V.I. 00802-9990  Tel: (340) 693-1057  Fax: (340) 693-1055  www.uvi.edu  PRESS RELEASE March 8, 2010 for immediate release UVI Special Announcement This is a Special Announcement for Monday, March 8, 2010. It is for the entire University Community. UVI to Test Emergency Communications Systems on St. Thomas and St. Croix Campuses One of the University’s top priorities is the strengthening of its emergency preparedness and communications systems to provide early warnings to students, faculty and staff in the event of an emergency. To achieve this objective, the University has invested in the acquisition of electronic outdoor alarm and voice broadcast sound commander systems on both campuses. These systems will have the capability of providing clear and intelligible voice and siren tone coverage of the entire campus on each island. On the St. Croix campus, the outdoor broadcast system is located near the entrance of the North West Wing Annex. A similar system is located in the rear parking lot of the Quarters B building on the St. Thomas campus. The Security Departments on both campuses will conduct training and testing of the new warning systems this week. Testing and training on the St. Croix campus is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9, and Wednesday, March 10. On the St. Thomas campus, training and testing is scheduled for Thursday, March 11, and Friday, March 12. During the testing, the campus communities and surrounding areas can expect to hear various siren tones established for various types of emergency situations as well as test broadcast messages. Personnel from first-responder agencies and other organizations such as VITEMA, the VI Police Department, Fire Services, the Port Authority, the FAA control tower and the media have been invited to participate in the testing demonstrations. While the siren warnings may seem loud and intrusive, we urge the campus communities to view these exercises as a valuable learning experience essential for the safety and security of everyone. The University will continue testing of the systems over the course of the next few weeks to familiarize the campus communities with the various siren tones and their associated warning significance and the appropriate emergency measures to be taken for each emergency. The campus community will be notified in advance of the scheduled testing. For more information call (340) 692-4155 on St. Croix or (340) 693-1144 on St. Thomas.   ###