To see just how well Cornell is moving in preparing for campus emergencies, senior administrative staff convened for a tabletop exercise Jan. 28. The hypothetical scenario: A student returns from a semester abroad carrying an infectious -- and for the victim, fatal -- disease. The discovery of the student's body in a dorm room unleashes a series of events that add increasing levels of complexity to investigation, communication and containment.

Led by university emergency planning consultant Robert Emery, assistant vice president for safety at the University of Texas-Houston's Health Science Center, the exercise was organized by Rich McDaniel, vice president for risk management and public safety, and Peggy Matta, director of the Office of Emergency Planning and Recovery.

In emergency systems parlance, the drill was an "escalation" routine that tests the knowledge of key players in the chain of command, from first responders (police, for instance) to communicators to senior administrators and the president.

"The very nature of an emergency is something that is unexpected," said McDaniel. "It's important to know your written materials beforehand, but knowing how to work together as a situation unfolds is crucial."

The executive group acquitted itself well, said McDaniel. Emery concurred.

"I think Cornell administrators are definitely on the right track," he said. "By taking an all-hazards approach to preparedness, mapping out planning processes and then sitting down and doing the drill, they are getting a good working sense of the dynamics inherent to a disaster."

Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, said the exercise was valuable in terms of knowing who is in charge at each level of escalation and for exposing areas that need refining.

"We've always placed a high priority on preparedness in the face of any emergency," Murphy said. "[But] we can always improve our ability to respond to any hazard."

One of the lessons learned from the Virginia Tech tragedy last year was how vital the role of a university's online news and Web operations are, said Tommy Bruce, vice president for university communications, not just for posting news updates, but helping a campus cope. "Keeping the public informed in a sensible and sensitive manner while handling a deluge of media calls requires a kind of nimbleness that takes into account the security of the campus and greater community and the need to keep the public informed," he said.

Cornell also has been testing its emergency communications systems, a combination of multi-channel high- and low-tech communications, such as instant messaging, bulk e-mail and telephone voice calls. This month, sirens are being installed in four locations on campus.

These preparations, too, were discussed and evaluated.

Stephen Golding, the Samuel W. Bodman Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, said the tabletop exercise was "a great first discussion."

"We learned a lot about what we're doing well, and we identified areas where we need to do more work," he said.

McDaniel said his office will be planning another executive tabletop drill that will tackle a different scenario.

"This is not a one-time thing," he said. "Cornell administrators are committed to re-evaluating the university's escalation procedures and testing their knowledge of how best to work together in the face of any hazard."

McDaniel, Vice Provost John Siliciano and Gannett Health Services Executive Director Janet Corson-Rikert are also heading a Pandemic Influenza Steering Committee of representatives from across campus to develop a comprehensive plan to use in case a new strain of deadly flu sweeps around the world. Details of that plan will be presented to the campus community this semester.