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How is UNT Preparing?

UNT is committed to maintaining a safe campus where education, research, and community engagement can take place. In keeping with this commitment, UNT Emergency Management staff work closely with the UNT Police Department (UNT PD) and other safety-related groups on campus to plan for emergencies, train and educate the community, and ensure the appropriate warning systems are in place. A number of other safety related groups also work diligently to mitigate risks to the campus community.

Planning

UNT routinely develops and revises emergency plans that describe the response to and management of events that pose a real or potential threat to the life, safety, and security of the campus community.

Plans, such as the Emergency Management Plan, describe how UNT administrators, UNT PD, and other response agencies will work together to manage emergencies that occur on the UNT campus. Emergency protocols and evacuation and shelter-in-place maps have been developed in order for students, faculty, and staff to know and understand what actions they should take during emergencies.

Training & Education

A variety of training and educational programs are offered to help prepare the UNT community for emergency situations.

UNT personnel with a role in emergency response complete training in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to prepare them for management responsibilities during an emergency.

Additionally, Risk Management Services and the UNT Police Department, utilize outreach programs to train and educate all members of the campus community, providing them with the knowledge needed to respond appropriately to various types of hazards. Some of these include:

Exercises

Additionally, exercises of various types are conducted throughout the year to assess and evaluate emergency plans and capabilities. The following types of exercises are used at UNT:

  • Drill.  A low-stress exercise that is limited in scope and usually intended to test a skill or capability (e.g., fire drill, tornado drill, etc.)
  • Tabletop.  A low-stress, discussion-based exercise involving key management personnel that focuses on group problem-solving
  • Functional.  A moderately stressful exercise involving key management personnel that tests one or more emergency functions
  • Full-scale.  A high-stress exercise involving key management personnel as well as first responders that tests multiple emergency functions

Alerts & Warnings

There are a number of notification systems to help you find out if an emergency has occurred or may occur in the near future. If a situation presents an immediate threat to lives, safety, or security of the campus community, emergency notification will be sent to the campus community via a number of different methods.

Warning messages may be received via the following notification systems:

Information about emergencies may also be disseminated to the campus community via the UNT website, Official Notices sent via email to the UNT community, local television, radio, and newspapers.

Safety Groups

UNT utilizes a number of groups, teams, and committees to support campus safety efforts. A sampling of these groups is described below.

  • Emergency Management Advisory Committee.  The Emergency Management Advisory Committee is charged with reviewing and evaluating emergency planning documents, such as the UNT Emergency Management Plan. The committee helps shape emergency planning efforts by providing feedback on initiatives undertaken by emergency management staff and recommending emergency plans to the President for formal adoption.
  • CARE Team.  The CARE Team was formed to address student mental health issues at UNT. This collaborative and interdisciplinary team provides a means of identifying, intervening, and responding to students whose behavior poses a risk to themselves or others. An additional focus is on educating the campus community to recognize at-risk students and to take appropriate actions in response. For more information, please visit the CARE Team website.
  • Safety and Transportation Steering Committee.  The charge of the Safety and Transportation Steering Committee is to review all parking, transportation, risk management, and environmental health and safety issues brought to its attention and suggest remediation actions. The committee also disseminates to the campus environmental health and safety reports; injury, illness, and accident data; and recommendations for mitigating related risks.
  • Health Crisis Team.  The Health Crisis Team meets in response to reports of a health crisis or disease which has the potential to affect the UNT campus community. Efforts are focused on gathering information on the situation, managing the dissemination of information to the public, and determining the appropriate preventative actions to take.

Posted on Oct 28, 2010 - 03:08 PM

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