How prepared would your school be if faced with a full-scale emergency? One college recently found out. Hamilton College in New York held a mock emergency preparedness drill last week — complete with helicopters, SWAT team, armed state police, gunmen and hostages.

All schools now are required to test their emergency response systems annually because of a new provision in the Clery Act. The new amendment went into effect this past July, requiring — among other things — campus police departments to create and test emergency response plans.

Here’s how the 11-minute drill played out, according to a report in USA Today:

• A gunman was firing on campus.
• There was a simulated detonated bomb in an auditorium.
• A group of 50 students, faculty and staff at Hamilton played the victims.
• The college was faced with handling a broken public address system.
• The school also had to arrange hospital transport for several students as well as come up with a plan to deal with parents.

State policeman Capt. Francis Coots told USA Today: “We tend to think it’s not going to happen in our backyard. But the chance of a disgruntled employee or disgruntled student going in there with a gun is a real possibility.”

Is your school ready should the unthinkable happen? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tags: emergency preparedness, Hamilton College