Emergency Notification and Response

Emory University provides emergency notifications and information to the university community. The Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) maintains overall responsibility for the development, maintenance, and operation of Emory’s emergency notification, emergency response, and evacuation procedures. Depending upon the type of emergency, the decision as to whether an emergency may rest with one of four units:

  • Emory University Police Department or Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (tornado warnings, active shooter, gas leak, and other law enforcement events).
  • Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (public safety, e.g. gas leak, water main break; natural disasters; environmental threats; outbreak of meningitis, norovirus, or other serious illness).
  • Healthcare Administrator On-duty/On-call (in compliance with Healthcare Emergency Code protocols at individual Healthcare campuses).
  • National Weather Service and/or the University’s private meteorological service (severe weather emergency monitoring). EPD serves as the primary warning point for monitoring severe weather service notifications and for activation of the Emergency Notification System as warranted via such weather service notification.

Upon confirmation of an emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on the campus, Emory will, without delay, determine the appropriate message for distribution and initiate the emergency notification process. Depending on the type of emergency and the extent of the threat posed, Emory may delay distribution of an entity-wide emergency notification if it would compromise efforts to assist a victim, contain the emergency, respond to the emergency, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.

The Emory Emergency Notification Program is a multi-modal system for alerting students, staff, faculty, and visitors of an emergency affecting the Emory community. The wide array of notification options affords Emory the flexibility to convey emergency information in the most appropriate manner and provides redundancy to help ensure the message gets out. Not all emergencies require all the notification components to be engaged simultaneously. Emergency notification system components include:

  • Sirens
  • Public address systems
  • Text messaging
  • Digital signage
  • Social media messaging
  • Cable banner messaging
  • Media advisories
  • Emory Safe safety app messaging
  • Mass email
  • Overhead page and text messaging at individual Healthcare campuses

Emory may use pre-scripted messages for many scenarios. Additional messaging is issued depending on the circumstances, and at the discretion of the incident commander, based on the impacts to the safety and security of the campus community.

Emory Healthcare campuses utilize an established Emergency Code process for distribution of Emergency Notifications. Healthcare staff who become aware of an emergency situation may initiate the Emergency Code process by contacting the Healthcare Call Center Switchboard serving each Emory Healthcare campus using one of several pre-established emergency phone numbers. Healthcare Call Center staff will then initiate the emergency notification process appropriate to the specific type of incident being reported. Emory Healthcare may use several different methods for emergency notifications and information distribution. These include:

  • Overhead loudspeaker announcements within the impacted facility
  • Text/page messaging to administrative members of the Healthcare Emergency Operations Group
  • Text/page messaging to all healthcare staff
  • Notification of the Healthcare Public Safety Department serving the impacted facility
  • Notification of the Emory University Police Department if the impacted facility is patrolled by EPD.

Emory shall use the emergency notification system to provide instructions or information during and after a situation where student, faculty, or staff’s health and safety may be at risk due to a natural disaster, criminal activity, severe weather, or other threats. Emory may also use components of the system to notify, recall, and provide guidance to faculty and staff members responding to or managing the event.

All designated employees of the EPD, all personnel employed by CEPAR, and all designated Healthcare Leaders are authorized to initiate activation of components of the emergency notification system.

Concept of Operations

EPD’s Communications Center is the primary 24-hour operation designated to serve as the warning point and to initiate the campus emergency notification process. CEPAR can temporarily assume responsibility during the transition should the police dispatch function be required to relocate to a designated back up location due to an emergency.

CEPAR and the University’s Emergency Operation Center also have the authority and the capacity to launch the emergency notification system. Designated Healthcare Leaders have the authority and capacity to launch emergency notifications within the individual Healthcare campuses. CEPAR and Emory’s Office of Communications and Marketing distribute additional notifications as an incident progress through one or more of the available communications systems (including but not limited to: text messaging, the use of web and cable banners, social media, and mass email notifications to the Emory community). If there is an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on campus, Emory will follow our emergency notification procedures. Upon following these emergency notification procedures, Emory is not required to send out a Timely Warning, but, Emory will provide adequate follow-up information (whether via the Emory Safe App, mass email through the listserv, or through a Timely Warning notification) to the community as needed.  

Assumptions

  • Incidents and/or events that impact the Emory community may necessitate the emergent notification of students, faculty, and staff.
  • Ensuring notification to one hundred percent (100%) of the community members impacted by an incident/event is often not possible; however, Emory shall take reasonable steps using the methods at its disposal to communicate with affected community members.
  • Faculty, staff, and students will be encouraged to participate in the optional text message portion of the notification system. Students will be directed to a registration page at the beginning of each semester when they log on to the Online Pathway to University Services (OPUS) system. Faculty and staff will be directed annually to a registration page in the PeopleSoft self-service module. Faculty, staff, and students will be asked to provide or confirm their information before proceeding into OPUS or PeopleSoft, and may choose to opt out of the system.
  • Faculty, staff, and students will be encouraged to participate in the optional Emory Safe Safety App messaging program. Emory Safe is a personal safety mobile app that Emory University provides for free. The app provides a quick, convenient, and discreet way to communicate directly with Emory University safety officials, enhancing overall safety and allowing EPD and CEPAR to better protect the community. Community members, including members of the external campus community (parents, campus attendees, campus neighbors, etc.), may utilize the following steps to participate in the Emory Safe App messaging program: Download Emory Safe from the App Store or Google Play.
  • Events requiring community notification may also tax the resources of the university. For redundancy and back-up purposes, the university shall designate two (2) locations staffed 24/7/365, with the capability to launch notifications by established protocol or upon direction of university official’s authorization to send notifications. The EPD Communications Center and the Emory Healthcare Call Center are the two designated locations.

Emergency Notification System Testing and Maintenance

CEPAR is responsible for testing the emergency notification systems periodically to ensure that the systems are functioning. The systems tested include warning sirens; text messaging system; mass email; Emory Safe Safety App messaging; X (formally known as Twitter); web banners; and cable banner. The results of the tests are documented and maintained in a database, so that corrective action(s) can be monitored and tracked.

 

Warning Sirens Testing

Functionality of the warning sirens are monitored in the following manner:

  • The University system monitor is checked by EPD dispatchers every shift to ensure that all sirens show operational status.
  • The sirens are polled once per week without activating the siren.
  • The sirens are tested monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at 12 noon.
  • If the sirens are not tested due to inclement weather, they will be tested the following Wednesday at 12 noon.
  • Documentation of testing and activation activities will be documented and maintained in a database, so that corrective action can be monitored and tracked.
  • A preventative maintenance program is in place and is documented in the database. The program consists of the following: Annual inspection, biannual certification, and a battery replacement program.
  • The Emory Healthcare loudspeaker paging systems are checked twice per day to ensure appropriate operations.

 

Warning Sirens Activation

The warning sirens may be activated for weather emergencies, law enforcement emergencies, and hazardous materials emergencies. The sirens will be sounded with brief pauses until the threat has passed or until the incident commander has deemed that the sirens can be safely stopped. All clear messages will not be sent.

In the event of a campus-wide emergency, the EPD Communications Center will initiate notification of key representatives of the University leadership, CEPAR and the crisis management team. CEPAR maintains comprehensive information and the University’s general emergency management processes. General guidelines about what to do in an emergency can be found in the campus emergency guide, Just in Time Guide. This guide can be found at https://emergency.emory.edu/preparedness/just-in-time/index.html

Building Evacuation Procedure

As appropriate, EPD or other first responders may decide to partially or completely evacuate any University building. Under a partial evacuation request, occupants may be simply asked to relocate to another portion of the building deemed safe by the police, fire department, or other first responders. Complete evacuation will result in all persons leaving the building and moving to a designated assembly area. EPS/Security will provide this service on Healthcare campuses in accordance with established Healthcare facility evacuation protocols.

Drills and Exercises

Emory conducts emergency response exercises in the form of tabletop and practical drills on at least an annual basis. The actual type of drill conducted is determined by the scenario and items necessary for evacuation. Announced and unannounced building fire/evacuation drills are conducted each semester in residence halls and on an annual basis in all other University campus buildings. Emory tests components of the emergency notification system monthly. Fire Safety maintains records of drills and exercises, documenting the date, time, and description of the exercise, and whether it was announced or unannounced. Records pertaining to fire drills are maintained by the Director of Fire Safety. The Emory community is notified of full-scale exercises using a variety of platforms, to include written, published material, signage, and social media. (See page 76 of the ASR for list of all evacuation drills conducted last year.)

Emory Healthcare conducts a minimum of two (2) annual emergency response tabletops, functional, and full-scale exercises. At least one exercise includes an escalating event where the healthcare setting is unable to support the event (i.e. surge capacity testing) and at least one scenario that includes participation in a community-wide exercise. In the healthcare settings, unannounced and randomized timing of fire drills are conducted once per shift per each quarter. EHC’s designated departments maintain records of drills and exercises, including date, time, and description of exercise as well as after-action reviews. Healthcare designated departments maintain records of fire drills including date, time, and location.