At a meeting Monday night, the Spring Lake Board of Commissioners discussed potential safety protocols to be implemented by the town in the event of an emergency.
This discussion was brought about by Mayor Kia Anthony following a “code red” lockdown at Fayetteville Technical Community College’s Spring Lake campus Monday morning. The Cumberland County Sheriff office received a 911 call claiming there was an active shooter at the school, a threat which was later determined false.
Later, FTCC issued an “all clear” alert on their website and a news release that stated that no evidence of an active shooter had been found on the scene.
At the meeting Monday night, Anthony proposed a three-part plan, drafted in collaboration with Mayor Pro Tem Soña Cooper, for increased safety protocols in the event of an emergency in Spring Lake.
The first step of this plan assigns the police or fire chief on scene as “incident commander,” with the town manager running an emergency operations center for coordination and resources. The mayor would serve as the primary spokesperson. The town would name a public information officer to manage facts and control the potential spread of any rumors or misinformation to the public, a liaison officer to connect the involved parties and county officials, and a safety officer to monitor risk in real time.
Within this proposed protocol plan, the town would establish a “simple communications playbook,” Anthony said, that would be shared between all Spring Lake schools, law enforcement, and town officials. This communications playbook would determine where and how emergency alerts appear, who issues them, and how involved parties will correct any potential misinformation during the emergency.
The town would also provide at least two emergency preparedness training opportunities: one civilian training for residents of Spring Lake to learn how to respond during a crisis, and a “stop the bleed program,” which would teach lifesaving skills that can be performed while emergency services are en route.
“We all want the same thing,” Anthony said at the Monday night meeting. “And that’s to protect people, share facts quickly, practice what we do, and keep improving.”
Anthony tasked Town Manager Jon Rorie with providing an outline draft of these proposed protocol changes “as soon as possible,” which may include the communications playbook, proposed training dates, and any budget information that needs to be considered to enact this plan.
The board passed a motion unanimously that instructs the town manager to create a brief draft of this program.
The next Spring Lake Board of Commissioners meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 28 at Spring Lake Town Hall, 300 Ruth St.
