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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Julie Johnson, 785-532-1333, jajohns@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/johnsonbio.html
Note to editors: The walk-through is not open to the public.
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Monday, July 14, 2008

EMERGENCY RESPONSE WALK-THROUGH TO BE AT K-STATE'S BIOSECURITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN PAT ROBERTS HALL

MANHATTAN -- Emergency responders and campus officials will conduct an emergency response walk-through at Kansas State University's BRI -- Biosecurity Research Institute -- Friday, July 18.

The drill, set for the afternoon, will help show how they can best plan to respond to the biocontainment lab in case of an emergency. The institute is in Pat Roberts Hall, just north of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Julie Johnson, the BRI's biosafety officer and K-State assistant vice president for research compliance, said such exercises are key to keeping both lab workers and the community safe.

"Working closely with Manhattan and Riley County first responders is vital to the success of the research program at K-State's BRI," Johnson said. "Being proactive and prepared will help ensure a rapid and safe response should there ever be a true emergency."

Johnson, whose biosafety team is charged with writing and testing all of the BRI's safety protocols, said the walk-through is just one of the steps in preparedness planning at the BRI. Ultimately, institute staff and emergency responders will plan and exercise what to do in a wide range of scenarios, such as the possibilities of someone requiring medical attention or the unlikely event of a lab accident, she said. More formal drills will be conducted in the future.

"Safety drives everything we do at the BRI," Johnson said. "Because we are not only BRI staff but also community members, we have a vested interest in ensuring that research is conducted safely and that if anything happens we're more than prepared to deal with it."

Community and campus entities involved in the drill include the K-State and Riley County police departments, the Manhattan Fire Department, Riley County Emergency Medical Services, Riley County Emergency Management and the Kansas Army National Guard's 73rd Civil Support Team.

K-State's BRI is the only biosafety level-3 biocontainment research and training facility in the U.S. that can accommodate high-consequence pathogen research on food animals, food crops and food processing under one roof, allowing for a more comprehensive research approach.