However, only a handful noticed that the alarm next to the door actually had been pulled, and heard the sirens approaching the building. When we got outside, there was no room to move. People were huddled next to the building outside the door. I had a good 50 to 75 people still behind me inside the building. A few students announced that we had to move farther, but we couldn’t. It was not until a faculty member came out and yelled at us to move 100 feet away from the building that people decided to move and make room for the others.

If this building were actually on fire, many people would have been trapped inside. If a lab had caught fire, only a small number of people would be aware. The rest would just assume it was a drill, and take their sweet time leaving the building. Today’s incident may have been someone pulling a prank, or there could have been a classroom on fire.

We go through so many fire drills from the time we are little, but few of us ever experience a scenario where we must escape a fire. People need to be aware that those alarms you are hearing may be for a real reason, not just a test. Use common sense when exiting a building — you’re probably not the last person to exit, and you ARE endangering someone’s life.

Rebecca Hodson

Manistee junior

The first of two lab training classes for new employees and students working with hazardous chemicals was held Friday in the IET Building.

Jennifer Walton, manager of risk management, environmental health and lab safety, ran the class, which informed those in attendance of the danger they may encounter while working in the lab.

“I began working for Central Michigan University in 1997,” Walton said. “We have this class for professors and student teachers who are new to the lab, along with undergraduates doing research who must do the training as well.”

Walton broke down the extensive rules and regulations set by the government during a presentation to about 10 people in attendance. They varied from new professors to undergraduate students and also those who have part-time jobs in a lab.

“I’m here to get certified to work in the labs because understanding the hazards associated with chemicals is very important to my future,” said Menominee senior and geology major Cory Paliewicz.

People have been disfigured and even killed because of lab accidents that were all preventable, Walton said.

“I need training for the stockroom in the chemical department so no one is harmed,” said Mount Pleasant freshman Eric Ecker.

To demonstrate to the class exactly how damaging lab accidents can be, Walton showed photos and YouTube videos that examine the reactions between certain chemicals often found together in a lab.

The chemical spill in Dow last August is an example of why the sessions take place, she said.

Walton said the information presented in the labs stayed the same as in previous years, despite the Dow incident.

“Whether it be a spill anytime or specifically last August, there is a systematic approach to handling it and that is what we teach,” Walton said.

There will be another class held later this semester. All students planning on working in a lab this year are asked to contact Walton at 774-4189 to receive certification.

The university closed the building because of chemical exposure on the third floor.

The emergency notification system, which has 8,471 registered users, sent out text messages, phone calls and e-mails, as well as alerted students over loudspeakers and sirens across Central Michigan University’s campus.

Three alerts were sent out within two hours.

“I was in a meeting and watched everybody’s phones go off,” said Bruce Roscoe, dean of students. “Everyone was notified. I was impressed how well the phone contact and text messaging went. It was very quick and efficient. By far, it was very effective.”

Students were alerted after a faculty member, whose name has not been released, dropped a beaker filled with about three liters of a liquid base, seeping through the instructor’s shoe. The faculty member was treated and released at Central Michigan Community Hospital on Friday, but the building was closed the rest of the day.

The chemical spill contained a mixture of 80 percent methanol and 20 percent ethylenediamine, a corrosive and flammable chemical.

Rooms 343, 344 and 345 remained closed an additional 24 hours to help rid the partially airborne chemical exposure.

Alert and aware

The first alert was at 10:44 a.m., instructing everyone to stay clear of the building, not to enter and that classes were canceled until further notice.

At 11:21 a.m., the second alert was sent. It instructed students, staff, faculty members and administrators the building was expected to reopen at 1 p.m. and, if any student left something inside of the building, they would be able to retrieve their items at that time.

The final alert was sent at 12:41 p.m., informing users the building would remain closed, and further instructions of personal item retrieval would soon come.

Though no alert was sent letting students know the official time to pick up their items, word of mouth worked in that respect.

Students who have yet to attain their personal items — backpacks, purses, laptops or books — need to contact the department of the class in which they were attending when asked to leave the building, said Steve Smith, director of public relations.

The belongings, he said, were held safely in the building during the weekend.

“If students are in a chemistry class, they need to go to the chemistry department to retrieve their items,” Smith said. “Same goes for physics or biology. If students waited, that’s how they will have to get their stuff, through the department offices.”

Waiting out Dow

Jocelyn Faydenko, a Mount Pleasant freshman, said she did not know much about the emergency notification system until late last semester. Her mother encouraged her to sign up, as she had, to be “in the know” when something happens on campus.

Faydenko was in class in the Dow Science Complex when the chemical spill occurred. She said within 20 minutes of standing outside, she received her first alert on her cell phone. Knowing she would receive more information on when she could come back for her personal items, Faydenko left.

But she found the system misinformed her of when to come back for her items.

“There was some misinformation, I guess, as I was told to come back at the wrong time,” she said. “It was a bit chaotic at the time, but that’s understandable. The good thing is if there’s anything wrong at all — whether it be a bomb threat or a person with a gun on campus — you can get notified quickly and spread the word. That way, everybody’s informed.”

But the incident also proved Central Michigan University’s emergency protocol procedures are quick and responsive, keeping students safe.

Although there were no serious injuries, the exposure was still taken seriously, as it should have been. The response by authorities and school officials was swift and appropriate.

This is the first time during the academic year the emergency system had to be used. In the past, the emergency system has been known to go off when it wasn’t needed, disrupting classes. Used as just a test, the emergency system was generally dismissed by most students as annoying and irrelevant.

But the incident Friday proved the emergency system is still useful and, for the most part, needed.

The incident may seem like officials overreacted but, with chemical spills, it is never known what could happen. The threat was contained quickly before it got out of hand, eliminating the chance for a breakout. Overreacting is better than not taking enough action, especially when such a potentially dangerous accident happens.

Students had to part with their belongings, which should be the least of their concerns during possibly life-threatening events. The university had students retrieve their belongings from respective departments.

Thankfully, injuries — only to an unnamed professor who was soon released from Central Michigan Community Hospital — were kept to a minimum.

CMU’s emergency system is capable of reaching everyone on campus, from the speakers installed in each classroom to students’ e-mail.

The ability to reach students anywhere and any time, whether or not they are on campus, keeps everyone informed and ready during a crisis.

Students should take every emergency system seriously, even if they know it is just a drill. CMU’s system worked well Friday and should work well in the future.

Central Michigan University Police reopened the building at about 2 p.m. today, allowing students to retrieve materials left in the building — backpacks, laptops, purses and books. The building was officially reopened at about 4 p.m., but classes will not resume until Monday morning.

“Especially in a science building, people need to be ready to get out quickly,” said David Bailey, a Coldwater sophomore who was in class when the accident occurred. “It’s not as easy as spraying down a chemical fire with water. If you do that, the building could blow up. One drop of a vase, and the building could be shut down for five hours. Students need to be aware of that.”

Steve Smith, director of public relations, said rooms 343, 344 and 345 on the third floor will remain closed for another 24 hours to help air out the partially airborne chemical exposure.

Smith said anyone who needs their personal items before Monday can contact the CMU Police Department, but if students can wait until Monday, they need to proceed to the department of the class they were attending. Their belongings, he said, will be held safely during the weekend.

“If students are in a chemistry class, they need to go the chemistry department to retrieve their items,” Smith said. “Same goes for physics or biology. If students wait until next week, that’s how they will have to get their stuff, through the department offices.”

Jon Kujat, coordinator for Risk Management Environmental and Health Safety Services, cleans up and helps retrieve personal items for students and faculty after the chemical spill at the Dow Science Complex on Friday.

The chemical spill contained a mixture of 80 percent methanol and 20 percent ethylenediamine, a corrosive and flammable chemical.

About three liters of the liquid spilled onto a faculty members feet, some seeping through the shoe and onto their skin, said Sgt. Michael Dunham of the Mount Pleasant Fire Department.

“One individual — an instructor — was exposed to it at their feet. That’s where the beaker hit the ground,” said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley. “We’ve locked down the area, and are following protocol to reopen the building.”

The faculty member, whose name has not yet been released, was treated and released from Central Michigan Community Hospital. The instructor, Dunham said, suffered caustic burns that were described as minor.

Central Michigan University Police, along with city fire and police officials and a HAZMAT team, arrived on the scene at about 10:20 a.m. after an instructor dropped a beaker in Dow’s third floor in room 345.

Dunham said the HAZMAT team used baking soda to counteract the chemical base.

Mason sophomore Jared Clapsaddle was in his physics class on the first floor when the fire alarm sounded, and everyone was asked to evacuate the building. He was asked to stand in the hallway by his instructor, under the impression it was just a fire drill.

Bailey also was in a physics class on the first floor. His class stepped outside toward Moore Hall.

Both Bailey and Clapsaddle left their belongings — backpacks, calculators and text books — inside the building, as instructors told students it was only a fire drill, and shouldn’t anticipate it taking more than 15 minutes.

A fire drill was planned for about 1:30 p.m. today in Dow.

“When we were standing in the hallway, the police yelled at us to get out,” Clapsaddle said. “We definitely just thought it was just a drill. People definitely need to take it more seriously, drills that is. I wouldn’t be waiting for my stuff in the rain if that was the case.”

Bailey’s bicycle is blocked off by police tape.

He said a chemical exposure is something that can’t be handled lightly.

Graduate student Syed Ashraf stood among a gathering crowd in the rain and noted the presence of the chemical in the air as he pointed to the open window of the room where the spill occurred.

“You can smell the ammonia blowing in the wind,” he said. “Even if it’s a small spill, it’s still dangerous.”

Ashraf said there is normally one to five liters of the chemical stored in the room. He also explained the basic procedures to guard the safety of those present when a spill occurs.

“If you spill something below the (gas) hood or on the floor, leave it alone, evacuate the room and close the door. If you spill it on yourself, remove the coat and splash water on yourself,” he said.

Philip Squattrito, a chemistry faculty member, was working on his computer in his office when the fire alarm sounded. His office is just down the hall in room 356.

“I thought nothing of it because we were supposed to have a fire drill today,” he said. ”(The chemical base is) something that would be irritating to breathe.”

CMU Police and environmental and safety services are currently investigating the incident and more details will be released as they become available.

Staff Reporter Adam Niemi contributed to this report.

Check cm-life.com for more updates.