Clear skies. Low 62F. Winds light and variable..

Clear skies. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.

“It’s football time in Oklahoma!” I heard those welcome words last Saturday as my son and I attended the first game of the season.

We’ve had season tickets for some time and have gotten to know the folks seated around us. It was an opportunity to catch up on news: a new addition in one family, a retirement in another.

The atmosphere was that of a celebration, as indeed it was, but I know that this celebration didn’t just happen.

There was a lot of planning and preparation that went into game day. I was witness to some of it.

The public sees security around and at the stadium: roads closed, vehicle inspections for cars parking at the stadium, officers from various departments around the state doing extra duty inside the venue, etc.

But there’s a lot more than meets the eye: preparations going back weeks, culminating on game day.

For example: University of Oklahoma Police Department officials contact departments around the state to provide additional staffing required to ensure the safety of 85,000 close friends.

Norman police coordinate with OUPD and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol regarding traffic routes entering and leaving Norman. Norman city officials coordinate with Campus Corner businesses on traffic management in that area and building capacity restrictions that could affect occupancies on game day.

And then there’s the matter of the stadium itself being “sterilized” before the game, which entails locking it down and running a thorough check for explosives and other dangerous contraband.

Norman Regional Hospital reviewed plans and coordinated them with OU and Norman officials.

Considerations included staffing the small clinic within the stadium complex, ensuring ambulance availability at and near the stadium, coordinating assignments for mobile (bicycle) EMS personnel, etc.

This preparation isn’t complete until Norman hospital emergency management meets with the training staffs from both schools to go over last-minute details relating to possible injuries on the field..

Norman police met the Thursday before last week’s game to go over plans for street closures, assignments for the department’s bike team and contingency plans for a number of potential scenarios (ranging from expected disorderly conduct to unexpected terrorist activities).

Traffic management after the game is always a big deal and received the attention it deserved.

I attended Norman Fire’s pre-game planning session that same Thursday and listened as the chief and his key assistants discussed positioning of assets (people and equipment) at the stadium and at locations with quick access to the campus area (Max Westheimer Airport, Cleveland County Fairgrounds and Fire Station 2 on West Boyd Street).

The staff reviewed disaster preparedness plans (part of NFD’s portfolio) and deployment of the department’s bike team (these firefighters are EMS qualified).

Game day happened. The OU football team did their part, beating Texas-El Paso by a comfortable margin and validating the most popular T-shirt in the place: “Bud, Barry, Bob and Brent.”

I enjoyed myself and thanked the deity for good times, ensured in part by the preparations at OU, supported by a large number of agencies in and around Norman.

My hat is off to the first responders who made this celebration possible, and then I stopped to think. ...

Sunday is the 21st anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States at the World Trade Center in New York, the thwarted attempt on the U.S. Capitol that ended up in a Pennsylvania field, and at the Pentagon.

I was at the Pentagon that fateful day. I witnessed initial confusion, followed by trained first responders from Arlington County and Alexandria City, Virginia, and several military facilities rushing to meet the crisis.

Rescuers braved an expanding fire (a portion of the building smoldered for days), risking their lives to save others.

And I waited for hours to learn the fate of a friend who had been working in the vicinity of the attack. He turned up, smelling of smoke and jet fuel, but otherwise safe. (To this day, we correspond on 9/11 to ensure that each of us is “still OK.”)

So, I enjoyed the game and the celebration of a new season.

And I know that it didn’t “just happen.” I thank first responders for all of their preparations to keep us safe on game day.

Thanks to 9/11, I don’t take any of it for granted.

Bill Scanlon is a former Ward 6 city councilor who volunteers in support of the Norman Police Department and Norman Fire Department, and serves multiple city committees. Prior to his work in Norman, Scanlon served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force — where he last worked as chief of mission analyses under the assistant chief of staff for the Air Force, Studies and Analyses at the Pentagon — and worked for Northrop Grumman in Washington, D.C.

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