Chic Williams' Legacy Includes Friday's Full-Scale Emergency Drill at GMS South

In a way, the sirens you hear Friday afternoon are paying tribute to Chic Williams, the man who helped build Geneva's Readiness and Emergency Management program to one of the best in Illinois.

Williams, who died Monday after a fight with liver disease, was Geneva High School's National Incident Management System coordinator and the person who applied for the $374,000 grant that will make Friday's full-scale emergency practice run possible.

Williams' visitation begins at 3 p.m. Friday at Malone Funeral Home in Geneva, a half-hour before the drill is expected to end.

Friday's drill almost certainly will be the most complex and expansive in the city's history—the culmination of nearly three years’ work updating and aligning Geneva School District’s emergency response plans with best practices and current legislation.

It will involve, literally, hundreds of personnel, from Geneva School District 304, the Geneva Police Department, Geneva Fire Department, Geneva Park District, Delnor Hospital/Cadence Health, Elburn and Countryside Fire Protection District, First Baptist Church of Geneva, Kane County Office of Emergency Management, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Mid-Valley Special Education Cooperative, and Tri-Com Central Dispatch.

"I will tell you right now, Geneva is better prepared than most (communities)," Geneva police Cmdr. Julie Nash said during a media briefing Wednesday.

And much of that credit should go to Williams, who was relentless in his championing of community intervention for troubled youth and community safety, particularly at Geneva High School.

"(The drill) will provide district staff and other agencies the invaluable opportunity to evaluate emergency response procedures and make adjustments where necessary," a School District 304 press release states.

Organizers emphasize that the drill is not a simulation of an "active shooter" event similar to what happened in December at a Newtown, CT, elementary school.

"It is by no means associated with Sandy Hook," said REMS grant coordinator Amy Campbell.

However, specifics are being kept confidential in order to preserve the intregrity of the drill, which is scheduled to begin around noon Friday, April 26, at Geneva Middle School South, 1415 Viking Drive, following the early dismissal of students.

Media representatives will be allowed to shoot photos and video from a designated out-of-the-way location, but the general public is asked to stay as far away from the drill site as possible.

Viking Drive and Blackman Road (behind Geneva Middle School South) will be blocked off by the Geneva Police Department during the drill.

Participants with simulated injuries will be transported to Delnor Hospital, and media and members of the public are asked to give wide berth to the drill activities there, as well.

Officials underline that residents should be aware of the drill and hold off calling 9-1-1 when they see or hear unusual activity. 

"On the day of the drill, please do not be alarmed if you hear a loud sound like an explosion at the onset of the drill or if you see emergency responders, smoke, ambulances, and/or media on the Geneva Middle School campus," the press release states.

"This is only a drill."