On Monday, June 15th, the university will conduct a long-planned emergency preparedness training exercise with the cities of Medford and Somerville and the Massachusetts State Police. Starting at 7 AM you may see police vehicles, ambulances, and fire engines on campus in the area of Tisch Library and in Cohen Lot. Training and simulation will occur from 7:30 AM to noon, and emergency vehicles will remain on campus through early afternoon while responders review the exercise.

The exercise, named Operation “Spartan Shield”, has been designed over several months and is similar to a full-scale exercise held 2 years ago.

The exercise involves a fictional scenario intended to create shared roles for police, fire, and emergency medical services. The central goal is to evaluate collaborative relationships among a team of 10 different public safety and emergency medical organizations under the pressure of a simulated complex incident. In order to maximize realism in the simulation, “Spartan Shield” will include volunteers posing as medical patients, some of whom may be wearing makeup to simulate injuries. Audio cues simulating gunfire will be used inside of the library for a short period of time beginning around 10 AM.

There will be traffic, parking, and pedestrian access restrictions in the area immediately surrounding the library from 9:30 AM until 1 PM. Tisch Library will be closed until 2 PM. There will be traffic and parking restrictions on portions of Professors Row and Latin Way, though sidewalks will be accessible to pedestrians. Uniformed police officers and campus security officers will be present to direct vehicles and pedestrians to alternate routes. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work together to strengthen preparedness.