USM hosts Enhanced Sports and Special Events Incident Management Course

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Southern Mississippi's National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security hosted a safety management class for sporting and special events Tuesday.

The course is a scenario-based workshop focusing on incident management, crowd and evacuation management, and risk management. Texas A&M Engineering extension service program teachers trained Southern Miss officials, local medical and police authorities on emergency response exercise.

Chris Gable, Training Director for Texas A&M Extension Service, said the course is designed to keep everyone in a stadium, arena or large area safe. “So a lot of things that were talking about are evacuation, securing the scene to make sure there are no further devices were also looking at plans on moving forward continuity of operations,"

Police, Law, Fire, EMS, and University officials each collectively play a role in unified command, "...how do we secure the facilities, how do we make sure everyone gets evacuated and get reunited with their family members, those who could be possible trapped injured or rescued,”

In the event of a disaster, participants will use their resources to make sure all bases are covered, to help protect fans and the reputation of USM.