Three-thirty in the morning and sound asleep, Nelson residents were abruptly awakened by the wails of emergency alarms. This was not the first time this year that residents were displaced due to elevated carbon monoxide levels. The difference being that this time getting the building back in order took five hours.
Despite the inconvenience and rude awakening, stuff happens. The measures that were taken to accommodate residents and settle the situation were necessary to ensure safety and lessen inconvenience.
When it comes to buildings and design, there is no way of ensuring perfection. Somewhere between blueprints and the real world there are things that are just unpredictable.
I am not a morning person at all, but I found myself tipping my hat to the appropriate response of Nelson’s staff and the Department of Campus Safety (DCS).
The building clear in the chilling weather, Nelson residents gathered in Nagel’s marketplace. People muttered to each other speculating on the situation, resting their eyes waiting to be okayed to re-enter. Grumpy expressions were exchanged and no judgment was passed on bed heads or pajamas.
Personnel were immediately aflutter identifying and combating the situation.
Despite this response, many people sought refuge with friends, while others stayed sheltered in Nagel. For those who didn’t Sodexo arrived at 7 a.m. to provide breakfast to the Nelsonsites, something not usually offered in Nagel. A meal swipe was still required and the nice gesture was a small consolation for the displacement, but the swift reply of the Sodexo staff at the request of Housing and Residential Education was sweet nonetheless.
In addition to this, for residents who had 8 a.m. classes and no school supplies, an email was sent out to notify professors of the situations.
The personnel working to settle the situation were also trying to figure out ways to get residents any important things they needed from their rooms.
Given the situation, the response was magnificent. With safety in mind, the building was being scoured by personnel, firemen and DCS teaming up to identify and solve the problem in order to ensure that each and every resident would be safe in their home away from home.
The carbon monoxide levels of Nelson were and are still being monitored to ensure the residents’ safety.
Residents were kept informed via email with the latest information about the situation.
There were also updates about what residents could do to make the best of the situation.
Considering the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and its lethal nature, displacement is the least of our worries.
No matter how long it takes, these measures are necessary to ensure safety, the fact that they were handled so thoroughly in such a small amount of time to lessen the inconvenience to residents is amazing.
The communication with the residents and measures taken to guarantee their safety and accommodate them was thorough, swift and kept residents safe.
More than the helpful information about the state of affairs was the frankness of the messages.
DCS and the resident director of Nelson, Zach Porter, were straightforward about how long it was going to take to be readmitted to the building and whether or not having an overnight bag packed before bed in the days to follow was a smart idea.
The frequent updates and frankness were a much better alternative than keeping residents in the dark until the last minute or until the situation was over.
As far as inopportune situations go, the response was as efficient as possible.
It’s hard to remember in situations like these that the people on staff are only human; no one could have predicted the situation.
Things happen out of the realm of control and it is up to us to recognize that when stuff happens it may be necessary to just roll with the punches and accept it.
When it’s a question of safety, there should be absolutely no second guessing.
