Developing and sustaining effective emergency assets, plans, and procedures is achieved through active involvement with campus, local, state, and federal agencies specializing in disaster response. 

Local, state, or federal emergency response teams rarely get the opportunity to cut through walls in an existing structure while participating in an exercise. The demolition of Davidson Hall provided that opportunity and multiple scenarios for search and rescue canines in the rubble piles of the building. EH&S and Facilities Planning and Management (FP&M) partnered to facilitate an Iowa Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue exercise at Davidson Hall.

EH&S conducted a full-scale exercise at the ISU Veterinary Medicine Research Institute Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility. Participants included ISU Faculty, ISU Police, City of Ames Fire Department, Mary Greeley Medical Center, and EH&S. The success of this exercise was demonstrated through the timely, well-coordinated actions of the partnering agencies.

EH&S, ISU Police, ISU Information Technology, and University Relations participated in the 2015 National Seminar and Tabletop Exercise for Institutions of Higher Education conducted by the United States Department of Homeland Security and hosted at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. The cyber security-based seminar and tabletop allowed for information and experience sharing between national governmental agencies and centers, colleges and universities. 

EH&S staff also participated in:

• an emergency room drill at Mary Greeley Medical Center 
• the American Red Cross Iowa Regional Disaster Exercise