Law School hosts 'Safety Preparedness Week' for students

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cynthia Quinn, (808) 956-7966
Interim Associate Dean for Student Services, Law School
Bev Creamer, (808) 389-5736
Media Consultant, Law School
Posted: Oct 28, 2012

Students are being invited to learn new safety techniques – and refresh their memories about some of the basics – during a special collaborative effort this week that brings Campus Security officers and emergency preparedness staff to the William S. Richardson School of Law for three lunch-hour special safety demonstrations.

The pro-active collaborative efforts, involving the Law School and UH Manoa Campus Security and Emergency Management departments, will help to ensure student safety.

The three one-hour demonstrations in the Law School Courtyard are scheduled from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, October 29-31. 

The first two sessions are based on personal safety and dealing with theft, and will be headed by Campus Security Sgt. Alberta J.K. Pukahi.  Pukahi, a senior investigator, was honored last year for her success in leading a task force to prevent burglaries at cash-handling locations on campus. “We teach crisis prevention intervention,” she explains. “It is not the typical punch, kick and fight your way out. Basically the focus is on getting away from an attacker, not to fight back.”

The first session will feature demonstrations using student volunteers.

The third session will be led by Jimmy Lagunero, coordinator for the UH Emergency Preparedness Management Team. It focuses on what to do during major natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods and windstorms.  It is especially pertinent, given the tsunami advisory issued this past weekend.

Lagunero will dicuss the importance of knowing what to do before a disaster occurs, and having information ahead of time about how to create and what to include in an emergency preparedness kit. His session will also offer advice about where to go for additional information about emergency shelters, as well as background on how to know whether you are in a tsunami inundation zone.

The Law School expects as many as 100 students to attend the demonstrations.

Said Cynthia Quinn, Interim Associate Dean for Students Services, “We appreciate how helpful our Campus Security and emergency prepared personnel have been in collaborating with us. We work hard to provide our students with a safe learning environment, and to help students prepare themselves – not just in learning  law – but in being aware and prepared."

For more information, visit: http://www.law.hawaii.edu/