This story was originally published in Vol. 34, Issue 1 (September 2023)
Around campus parking lots are small towers labeled “Emergency” with blue lights on top—these 19 emergency phone towers, formally referred to as stanchions, were installed when the campus was built and are part of an ongoing effort to maintain safety at WSU Vancouver.
So what happens when someone pushes the button on one of these towers?
According to head of WSU Vancouver Public Safety Lt. Dave Stephenson, pushing the button calls the same regional 911 call center we reach by calling 911 on our phones—the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency. Upon connecting, the 911 operator will communicate with the caller to determine what emergency services are needed. If the caller does not communicate with the operator, they will initiate a “911 Hang-up” call, which sends a police officer to the area of the stanchion to assess the situation.
In addition to this, pushing the button automatically sends an email and pager alert to Public Safety notifying them that the stanchion has been used via WSU Vancouver’s internal network. If Public Safety has not yet self-dispatched from the network notification, the 911 operator will then dispatch them to the stanchion area.
All 911 calls are recorded and saved for 30 days at the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency. Public Safety also creates records for calls requesting service in the form of a police report or noted in officer logs.
So how many calls are actual emergencies? As it turns out, a caller reports an actual 911 call requesting emergency assistance only about once or twice a year, according to Stephenson.
“Almost all deployments are accidental by children or curious actors that push the button to see what it does,” said Stephenson. “Most other deployments are due to users requesting help with a vehicle lockout or dead battery. WSU feels that the sense of security provided by the emergency phone stanchions is worth the cost of keeping them in service.”
These stanchions are monitored, managed, and maintained by joint efforts by Public Safety, Facilities Operations and the IT department with testing done on a monthly and as-needed basis. Four stanchions have cameras, and eight of them have sound broadcast capability.
“My team, the facility services team would do some repairs to them, we support Dave by helping with repairs,” said Bill Hooper, associate vice chancellor of Facilities Services.
Facilities Services also oversees the general ambient lighting of buildings and parking lots, another important aspect of maintaining safety on campus.
While the emergency stanchions are designed for use in various weather conditions, they are still susceptible to weather-related damage and issues with electronic components.
In fact, seven stanchions were replaced for various reasons in the last academic year, according to Chief Information Officer Michael Stamper. For starters, the box of electronics in each stanchion costs around $1,200 to replace.
For Stamper, the ultimate goal is to find something that doesn’t break. He places high value on hearing student opinions on campus safety, as well as communicating with other campuses and schools to find out what safety measures work well for them.
“In a way, continuously maintaining these stanchions is an unfunded mandate,” he said. “I am especially grateful for Public Safety and Facilities Operations and their commitment to safety on campus.”