9:53 a.m., Sept. 16, 2010----An exercise held under the lights Monday night, Sept. 13, at Delaware Stadium met its goal and provided a realistic and successful test of evacuation procedures.

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"The evacuation exercise at the Delaware Stadium was a rousing success,” said Marcia Nickle, UD emergency manager. “We had over 2,000 students participate in the exercise and were able to practice pedestrian traffic flow from the stadium to our refuge shelter locations, the Bob Carpenter Center and the Delaware Field House.

Nickle had said the goal of the exercise was to ensure that the ushers, athletics operations, police, fire, EMS and Environmental Health and Safety personnel who work the football games could facilitate a quick and orderly evacuation.

The evacuees were played by the more than 2,000 students wearing white Greek Nation T-shirts, including about 20 who were in wheelchairs and seated in the boxes along the West stands sidelines.

“It was an amazing turnout,” said Matt Lenno, assistant director of Student Centers and adviser to fraternity and sorority life.

Ushers, public safety personnel and evacuees were given the cue to begin evacuating with a public address announcement concerning a large lightning storm in the area.

After one evacuation, which went smoothly, the students returned to Sections A, B and C for a second, which also went well.

Nickle offered “a special thank you to the Greek community at the University for selflessly donating their time to make this exercise possible. We would also like to thank the School of Nursing, Student Health Services and the State of Delaware Division of Public Health for their use of wheelchairs to simulate evacuation of mobility impaired patrons."

Article by Neil Thomas
Photos by Tyler Jacobson