Any college campus would be incomplete without large quads, grandiose halls and of course – emergency call-boxes.

University safety officials announced plans to replace the university’s existing 34 emergency call-boxes in addition to the installation of 23 additional telephone stations.

The most noticeable call-boxes are the white telephones with an iridescent blue light, but Leavey Center and McCarthy, Kennedy and Reynolds halls also have indoor emergency telephones.

David Morrell, vice president for university safety, said that the plans are in preliminary stages and that the costs of the plan have yet to be determined.

“This is in what’s called the toll gate process, a review system to make sure that the project is well-conceived so that it makes sense and it is what the university wants to do,” Morrell said. “This way the university knows exactly how much the program will cost, not only at the inception, but over the years, including what the cost will be for both current expenses and future expenses.”

Morrell said the project will take six to eight months once construction begins. Phones will not be disabled until new phones have been installed.

The Department of Public Safety checks the phones every month to ensure they are functioning, Morrell said.

Morrell also announced the addition of seven Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) to the campus in order to help resuscitate individuals in the event of cardiac arrest. The devices should be operational beginning today, Morrell said.

“They have been shown by the Red Cross to be extremely effective in saving people who are in some level of cardiac arrest,” Morrell said.

The devices are simple enough for anyone to use, Morrell said, and the machines only discharge if all the steps have been followed.

“They’re clearly foolproof and a great addition to the overall safety environment here on campus,” he said.

The AEDs have been installed at Yates Field House, Leavey Center, ICC and the Walsh building and at the Pre-clinical and Basic Science buildings at the Medical Center.

DPS will also keep a portable unit in a DPS cruiser.

“It seems like when anything happens, DPS is notified immediately. And so if they respond, they’ll always be there in the event that the incident is somewhere that we don’t have a device,” Morrell said.