News

Wayne State University Announces Commitment to Emergency Preparedness Planning

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Monica Howald
314-255-2340 x108
mhowald@blacktwigllc.com

Wayne State University Announces Commitment to Emergency Preparedness Planning
Emergency evacuation recognized as high priority for the university

DETROIT (November 2009) - Addressing a call-to-action by FEMA and the U.S. government's Ready initiative, Wayne State University is enhancing its homeland security capabilities by providing its campus police with a cost-effective device called the Med Sled to aid in removing injured or immobile persons from buildings quickly in emergency situations. Wayne State is one of the first universities in the Midwest addressing a call to action from FEMA and the government organization's Ready initiative. One of the main concerns for WSU is emergency evacuation.

"Student and staff safety are always at the top of our list of concerns, but now we are taking steps to enhance our program and be even more proactive," said Lt. Dave Scott, an officer with the Crime Prevention Section of the Wayne State University Police Department. "We are particularly concerned with finding an efficient way to safely evacuate students with injuries or who are otherwise immobile, such as might be the case in an active shooter emergency."

The Med Sled, from ARC products, is a cost-effective evacuation sled that empowers non-professionals to evacuate the injured or the immobile when immediate action is required. The compact sled weighs no more than 10 pounds and rolls up neatly into a store-and-carry bag.

The WSU Police Department is now equipped with 15 standard sleds, one bariatric sled and two MS-30 sleds, designed specifically for single story, horizontal evacuations only. All police officers in the department have completed emergency preparedness and evacuation training involving use of the Med Sled, and all patrol cars are equipped with one of the devices. The sleds weigh about 10 pounds, are compact and easily transportable in a storage bag.

"Campus police officers have been trained to use the Med Sled to perform small-scale rescue if emergency medical personnel have not yet arrived or if the situation calls for immediate evacuation," Scott said.

"We are immensely proud that Wayne State has chosen to incorporate the Med Sleds into its plan," said Clifford Adkins, President of ARC Products, the manufacturer of Med Sleds. "We designed the Med Sled with the stairwell braking system to fill a preparedness 'gap,' and give non-professional individuals the tools to react when circumstances require immediate evacuation."

The Med Sled is used in primary and secondary schools, community colleges and universities across the country. Overall, the sleds are available in schools and hospitals in all 50 states and six countries.

About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students. For more information about Wayne State University and its Police Department, please visit www.wayne.edu or www.police.wayne.edu.

About ARC Products and Med Sled
ARC Products, based in St. Louis, is a national manufacturer of cost-effective evacuation solutions, including the Med Sled. Since 2004, ARC has been developing products to support disaster preparedness and emergency evacuation to ensure that non-ambulatory individuals are transported safely in emergency situations. Med Sleds are in service in all 50 states and more than six countries in hospitals, nursing homes, fire and EMS, schools and universities, government facilities and military installations. Med Sleds are patent pending, made in America and approved by the GSA. For more information about ARC Products and the Med Sled, visit www.medsled.com or call 1-866-207-6993.

###

Request More Information

Contact us about one of our Evactuation Devices

Interested In:



News/Press view all