Updated Sept. 17: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it is postponing the national tests of two alerting systems that had been scheduled for Sept. 20 — the same morning as the UC Davis exercise. Due to severe weather on the East Coast and ongoing response efforts, FEMA rescheduled its tests for Oct. 3. 

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Updated Sept. 14: The Sept. 20 emergency exercise will coincide with national tests of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at 11:18 a.m. and 11:20 a.m., respectively. WEA messages go to cell phones connected to participating carriers, and the EAS, involving broadcast and cable media and more, enables the U.S. president to address the nation during an emergency. Read more about these tests.

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Updated Sept. 12: Officials issued a revised advisory for the Sept. 20 emergency exercise at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

• Arboretum Drive at La Rue Road and the small parking lot (P3) behind the Mondavi Center will be closed except to police, fire and role players.
• There will be no other road closures for the exercise, and the exercise is not expected to affect pedestrian traffic in front of the Mondavi Center.
• The Davis-Sacramento campus shuttle will adhere to its regular schedule of stops in front of the Mondavi Center.

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Aug. 29: The UC Davis Fire and Police departments will hold drills on three days in September to train for active-shooter incidents. The drills are set for Tuesday and Thursday, Sept. 4 and 6, and Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. 

Each exercise will begin with set-up at about 7:30 a.m., and the main activity will be from about 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The sound of simulated gunfire will be part of all three drills, as will pretend victims — volunteers in makeup.

Passers-by can expect to see emergency vehicles parked outside the Mondavi Center and in nearby parking lots. All parking lots will be open as usual except for the small lot (P3) behind the Mondavi Center. Other buildings and facilities in the area will be open as usual.

Mrak Hall Drive in front of the Mondavi Center will be closed to northbound traffic; a detour around Vanderhoef Quad will provide access to Mrak Hall. Southbound motorists leaving Mrak Hall will use Mrak Hall Drive, although there may be intermittent pauses in traffic.

The Davis-Sacramento campus shuttle will pause service to the Mondavi Center from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 4 and 6. Regular service will resume at 12:21 p.m.

The exercises provide the opportunity to practice communications, tactics and procedures for evacuating casualties from an active-shooter incident. Based on recent mass shootings in the United States, the latest thinking calls for medical teams to rapidly enter the scene, even before a shooting incident has ended and quickly remove victims most likely to respond to treatment. 

UC Davis has a robust emergency management program and routinely trains first responders and campus employees in responding to hazards and crisis events. The Police Department holds regular Active Shooter Survival Workshops for employees and students.