Emory University, in conjunction with the CDC and the six jurisdictions that comprise the Atlanta Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), will hold a full-scale active threat EXERCISE on the Druid Hills campus from 6 a.m. to noon Wednesday, March 14, and on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Roybal Campus (1600 Clifton Road NE) from 6 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 17.

Residents will note an increased number of vehicles and emergency response personnel gathering at the Briarcliff and Druid Hills campuses beginning at 6 a.m., Wednesday March 14. There may be some additional noise associated with the exercise, such as the presence of a police helicopter overhead. Sirens will not be used in order to keep noise to a minimum.

Police not participating in the drill will be stationed outside the perimeter of the drill area to maintain the safety of participants and the surrounding areas.

The exercise is taking place during Emory’s spring break to minimize the impact on students, faculty and the surrounding neighborhoods. Emory, CDC and Atlanta UASI are holding the joint exercise to test participating organizations’ response to any large-scale active threat within the Atlanta metropolitan jurisdictions of the City of Atlanta, Clayton County, Cobb County, DeKalb County, Fulton County and Gwinnett County. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) is a Department of Homeland Security grant program designed to assist urban areas to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, and other all-hazard emergencies.

Participants will include dozens of federal and local emergency response personnel (law enforcement, fire, 911 communications, rescue teams and public and private EMS) with the City of Atlanta, and Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. Personnel from CDC, Emory University, Emory Healthcare and Grady Health System are participating in the exercise.

Details on the March 14 drill on the Emory campus are as follows:

• Emory’s Briarcliff Campus, 1256 Briarcliff Rd., will serve as a staging/preparation area for emergency response personnel (police, fire and rescue teams).
• Goodrich C. White Hall, 301 Dowman Drive, will be the site of the active threat exercise.
• Traffic to the area around White Hall will be restricted from 6 a.m. until noon. The following streets will be closed during those hours:
• Dowman Drive at South Kilgo Circle
• Dowman Drive at Eagle Row 

The area immediately surrounding White Hall will be cordoned off and not accessible for foot or bicycle traffic. Other university buildings, including those adjacent to White Hall, will be open and operating as usual.

Emory University Hospital’s Emergency Department and Grady Hospital’s Marcus Trauma Center will be participating in the exercise, but both hospitals will maintain normal operations during the exercise. 

The joint exercise will continue on Saturday, March 17 from 6 a.m. until noon on the CDC’s Roybal Campus. Area residents may notice increased traffic in the area from emergency response personnel (police, fire and rescue teams), but traffic will remain unrestricted during the March 17 exercise.