The University of Oregon along with the City of Eugene will participate in and host a training exercise on Wednesday, May 2, which may cause disruption to normal activities in and around campus and Alton Baker Park. If you see or hear the training exercise, be aware that it is a planned simulation of events and not an actual emergency.

The Oregon National Guard will train for a mass evacuation scenario at the UO as one of several locations around Oregon and the U.S. This training provides an opportunity for university responders to test and implement plans to better prepare to respond to incidents on campus in the future. The training exercise will include helicopter landings and take-offs, and ambulance staging and transportation in the area.

In preparation for this exercise the Oregon National Guard is planning to do a practice run on Friday, April 27 between 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. The practice flight will involve low approaches where the helicopter will hover at the two landing zones listed below.

The week of April 30, including May 2, is busy with activity on campus and efforts have been taken to limit the number of helicopter landings and take-offs to reduce the disruption to campus. The helicopters may include those used for Life Flight as well as military Blackhawks.

On May 2:

• Helicopters will land and takeoff twice from the grass area between Howe Field and the tennis courts near the PE & Rec field between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Note: this will not interfere with the scheduled UO softball games beginning at 1 p.m.
• Helicopters will land and takeoff three times from the Riverfront soccer field between 10:30 a.m. and noon. Note: this will not interfere with scheduled intramural activities, and will not impact pedestrian access through the area.
• A dozen or more ambulances will line up on 18th Avenue as part of the exercise and will travel from 18th Avenue to Hilyard Street and down Franklin Boulevard to the Riverfront soccer fields off of Agate near the Autzen footbridge. The ambulances will not activate lights or sirens and will likely travel in small groups. The activity is not expected to impact vehicle, bike or pedestrian traffic.

At the conclusion of the training at UO, the exercise will continue in the Alton Baker Park area on May 2. The flight patterns for the off-campus training will not cross over campus; therefore, noise should be minimal.

In the event of an actual emergency, information will be communicated via email, text and the UO homepage.

For questions or concerns, contact Krista Dillon at UO Emergency Management & Continuity at 541-346-3588 or kristam@uoregon.edu. UO Emergency Management & Continuity (UOEMC) is the administrative unit responsible for creating the framework for the university to reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with crises and disasters.