Emergency Response Procedures

Utah State University has put together an Emergency Operations Plan, which is updated annually by our Campus Emergency Manager and is made available to all departments on campus. It contains an Action Checklist for Disaster, a leadership succession plan in the event of a major crisis, a list of emergency medical supplies, evacuation plans, hazard analyses for possible disasters in the Cache County area, and telephone numbers for those in each campus building who should be contacted. It also lists responsibilities of all emergency coordinators, rescue and medical personnel, law enforcement officers, and so on.

Also, the University has a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in place. Members of CERT are specially trained to provide medical and search and rescue assistance in disaster situations, especially those in which the services of professionals are not immediately attainable. They also have the charge of identifying emergency response plans (posting evacuation maps) and encouraging facilities employees to become part of the CERT program. CERT also conducts annual emergency response drills wherein “mock disasters” are recreated and participants must prove that they know how to deal with such situations. The campus emergency management program has a goal to provide at least one team of 3 to 5 CERT members for every building on campus.

The Facilities Organization takes a very active role in the campus emergency response plan, partly because many of the vehicles and much of the equipment necessary for search and rescue efforts is kept here. Almost fifty Facilities employees are members of the CERT program and are highly trained in responding to disaster situations.

In addition, the Facilities Organization’s Safety Committee is working with Environmental Health and Safety Office to bring about a campus-wide emergency response plan, a vital part of which will be the implementation of a new computer program, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), where information on all campus buildings can be accessed by emergency responders in the event of an emergency. This information will include maps of all floors, locations of electrical wiring, plumbing, fire extinguishers, and access tunnels, and other pertinent facts, such as whether any dangerous chemicals are stored in the building. At the click of a mouse it will also bring up emergency phone numbers (police, firefighters, the water or electricity department, Poison Control centers, etc.) and display possible escape routes.