Chapter 11 Safety and Security

Case 3 Power Outage during an Event Scenario

You are the senior event services manager for a 12,000-seat arena located on a major university campus in the Southeastern United States. The universitys athletics teams compete in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). On this Saturday afternoon, the university mens basketball team is playing a home game against one of its fiercest ACC rivals. In fact, the visiting team is the defending NCAA national champion and the fans were in a frenzied state for this game when you opened the doors. This televised marquee match-up is sold out. The game tipped-off on schedule at 3:08 p.m. EST. As halftime approaches, the power goes out as a result of an automobile accident in close proximately to the venue that knocks out a major electrical transformer. To the best of your knowledge, the power is out across campus, as well as in the nearby surrounding neighborhoods. The campus police officers on duty have received word that the power will most likely not be restored for several hours. The majority of the campus police on duty in the arena have been directed to take other posts on campus to assist with traffic control and to protect some of the highly sensitive research venues on campus. The operations manager reports that while the emergency generator started up and there is emergency lighting, for some reason the public address system is not working even though it is connected to the generator. You are the senior manager on site and are responsible for decision-making and leading your staff in addressing this dilemma.

Assignment Emergency planning is an ongoing activity that should involve every department within a venue. From the event managers point of view, emergency preparedness takes on heightened importance during events in a venue occupied by many people. The event manager must have the knowledge and competence to carry out emergency responses if necessary. In addition to venue management staff, emergency response will include appropriate actions from a broad range of venue occupants, including event staff (such as ushers and security personnel), medical staff, police, and fire officials. The emergency plan should include a chain of command protocol that includes an incident command system specifying who is in charge . Please answer the following questions as thoroughly as possible:

1. What is the first action you must take in this situation? 2. What instructions do you give to your on-site staff? 3. How do you communicate with the fans without the public address system? 4. How do you handle questions from fans regarding continuation of the game? 5. How do you handle questions from the media? 6. What do you do with the teams? Officials? Television on-air talent? 7. How would your responses change under the following circumstances? o The power outage was caused by a lightning storm o The power outage occurs before the game begins and before doors have opened o The game is scheduled on a Friday night