October 15, 2013 To: All Faculty and Staff From: Donald H. DeHayes, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs and Christina Valentino, Vice Pres

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October 15, 2013

To: All Faculty and Staff
From: Donald H. DeHayes, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs and Christina Valentino, Vice President for Administration & Finance
Subject: Emergency Procedures

Our goal is to ensure that URI faculty and staff are prepared for emergency situations to protect their safety and the safety of students. URI’s Emergency Alert System will notify the campus of reported emergencies – but you may encounter an emergency situation at its onset. These strategies will help you to take orderly and safe actions in an urgent situation. Please take a moment to read this memorandum.

It’s important to remember that while no "plan" or "procedure" can outline every action step to take for every situation, there are a few ground rules that always apply. (1) First and foremost: always do everything to maintain and ensure your life safety. (2) Report the emergency to 401-874-2121 when it is safe to do so. (3) If you are safely able to do so, render aid or help others in need as appropriate.

IN PREPARATION FOR EMERGENCIES

▪ Ensure that you are familiar with the locking mechanism of the door to your office/classrooms.
▪ Register for (and regularly update) your contact information on the URI Emergency Alert System through eCampus and specify "text message" as your first mode of contact.
▪ If you are teaching a class: ensure that your students are registered for the alert system and that they set their phones to "vibrate" (not "off" or "silent") so they can receive messages.
▪ It is best practice to close your door for normal operating procedure (so that it can be quickly locked if a lockdown occurs).
▪ Check cell phone coverage in your office and classroom spaces and report issues to office@emergency.uri.edu, making sure to include your carrier (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint ...) and specific location.
▪ Locate all fire exits and emergency/safety features in your building and office/classroom and ensure students are familiar with them as well. Identify a rally point outside of the building for your office/classroom and ensure everyone is familiar with it. For faculty, many of these aforementioned items can be reiterated in your syllabus.

IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA OF AN IMMEDIATE DANGER OR THREAT

▪ If it is safe to do so, vacate the area containing the threat ("RUN"). If you are in charge of a class or group, encourage everyone to remain calm and exit in an orderly fashion (displaying a calm demeanor can greatly enhance the success of the response) and call for help.
▪ If it is not safe to do so, seek cover -- follow the lockdown procedure below ("HIDE").
▪ If neither of those are an option and it is not safe for you, you may need to take action as a last resort against the threat to protect yourself and others ("FIGHT").
▪ In all cases, you should call for help as soon as it is safe to do so (401-874- 2121).

WHEN A "LOCKDOWN" ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED

▪ Immediately lock all doors. If you are not able to do so, barricade or restrict the access to your classroom/office space, improvising to the best of your ability.
▪ Turn off the lights and close the windows shades; remain as silent as possible and ensure that phones are turned to "silent" as even vibration mode can be heard in a quiet room).
▪ Hide behind large objects. Do not allow anyone to leave -- reassure everyone that Public Safety personnel are responding to the situation.

TERMINOLOGY:

Evacuations: "Evacuations" may be campus or building specific, depending on the nature of the incident. The main priority is to safely and expeditiously move all people within a building or area to a safe location.
Shelter-in-Place: "Shelter-in-Place" procedures will occur when evacuations would pose a threat to safety, but would not require a lockdown due to the type of threat. Typically, "shelter-in-place" procedures will be initiated with notice of tornado warnings, bomb threats, and hazmat incidents.
Lockdown: "Lockdown" usually occurs during situations where imminent threats to life safety are present, and when the option to evacuate is not feasible or would pose a greater threat to life than locking-down. An example would be an active shooter incident. The main priority is to contain people in a secure area, ensuring that all windows and doors are locked. Once the incident is stabilized and the area is secure, evacuation procedures may take place.

Training will be scheduled in the near future. Watch for announcements and registration. For more information or to schedule a training session, please email office@emergency.uri.edu.

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