City of St. Louis Conducts Emergency Evacuation Drills at City Government Buildings

St. Louis, MO – The City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) is responsible for developing and maintaining emergency plans for the city. By working with all other city departments, CEMA has helped establish emergency operations plans for several city buildings, including City Hall and the building at 1520 Market Street. These plans take an all-hazards planning approach to assign responsibilities and explain procedures handling various emergency situations.

“The City of St. Louis plans and prepares for all emergencies,” said Gary Christmann, Commissioner, City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency. “Our building emergency plans explain what actions employees should take in an emergency, for their own safety and for the safety of those who visit these buildings.”

CEMA works year-round to update, exercise and evaluate emergency plans. On the morning of Tuesday, May 23, 2017, employees at City Hall and the 1520 Market Street building will participate in emergency drills to test their evacuation procedures. Each building will practice their procedures at separate times on Tuesday morning. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and St. Louis Fire Department will be assisting with the drills, much as they would in an actual event.

“These quarterly drills help us to evaluate the effectiveness of our plans and allow office safety captains and employees with an opportunity to practice what they would do in an actual emergency. The more familiar employees are with the emergency operations plans, the more likely they will be more comfortable they will be implementing them in an actual emergency,” Christmann said.

The drills will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. People in the area should be advised that emergency crews will be responding to each building and may result in minor traffic interruptions. In addition, each building will be fully evacuated and there will be an increase in pedestrian traffic surrounding each building.