"College Prep"

Campuses Continue Emergency Preparedness Push

photo of M.I.T.

At 2 p.m. on March 13, cell phones across Boston College's campus began to chime, chirp and buzz simultaneously.  With one "click," BC's Emergency Management Team delivered a text message to the cell phones of over 14,000 students, faculty and staff.  Within seconds, the university completed its first test of a new emergency notification system, marking a new era in emergency communications for the BC community. 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the tragic events at Virginia Tech, college campuses across the nation are taking steps to improve emergency communications and disaster preparedness plans. 

Brown University has also taken steps to beef up campus preparedness measures with the addition of new emergency systems and updating its emergency action plan (EAP).  Stephen Morin, Brown's director of Environmental Health & Safety said the university began working last summer with city officials to install an Emergency Siren Warning System (ESWS) on campus.  These sirens would be activated to initiate Shelter-In-Place procedures for specific life threatening emergencies where advanced warning was not possible. The system installation was completed in January and tested in February.

"Colleges and Universities have struggled to communicate quickly with their large and diverse populations during emergencies," Morin said.  "But now with text messaging and warning siren systems, we are better able to reach the campus community quickly and effectively."

Like BC, Brown has also successfully tested its web-based emergency notification system.  Faculty, staff and students can be reached via e-mail, text message, and cellular or landline phone.  Brown reports that already 67% of undergraduate students have opted into the system with their personal cell phone numbers.

More New England universities have undertaken efforts to prepare against the threat of a possible avian flu pandemic.  Last year, the University of Vermont chartered an Emergency Management Planning Working Group to develop a comprehensive pandemic response plan to be completed.  The University of New Hampshire has taken similar actions.  Its plan encompasses education and preparedness, response, and recovery to take place in the event of an influenza pandemic.

For more information on avian flu:
www.pandemicflu.gov

Last Modified: Thursday, 10-Apr-2008 15:59:18 EDT