Information on Pandemic Influenza & H1N1 Influenza
Posted: 11/17/2009 06:04 AM PST
Immediate Emergency Assistance
The University of Oregon has developed an enterprise-wide Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The purpose of university’s Emergency Operations Plan is to outline the management structure, responsibilities, procedures, and guiding policies to assist the University of Oregon in responding to an emergency event. The EOP directs response efforts when Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed by university departments and units are insufficient to handle an emergency and/or crisis. Department/unit specific plans and Standard Operating Procedures compliment and support University-wide planning efforts while providing more depth and specific detail regarding department/unit-level response.
While there are campus-wide emergency plans, it is a department/unit’s responsibility to plan by preparing for a variety of emergencies by developing a Department/unit Emergency Response Plan. A department/unit Emergency Response Plan identifies a department/unit’s specific approach to emergencies and is meant to compliment the overall campus level UO Emergency Operations Plan.
The following guide provides steps that your department/unit can take to begin the planning process. The guide is organized into three phases: Phase I – Get Ready, Phase II – Get Set, and Phase III – Go!
For more information, contact Krista Dillon - 541.346.3588
Assemble a team to talk about emergency preparedness or utilize a staff meeting to talk about your department/unit’s approach to responding to emergencies.
In a crisis or emergency who in your department/unit is the Incident Response Team (IRT) leader, the person responsible for effective emergency response? In some cases this may be the department/unit head while in other cases the department/unit head may delegate this authority to another person in the department/unit. Who in your department/unit will assist the IRT leader and what will their roles be in coordinating the emergency response?
In this section identify your IRT leader and other IRT members. List the responsibilities for each position. It should be noted that team member duties might be different than normal duties. Identify a three-deep succession order for each member of the IRT in case someone is not available in an emergency.
In order to gain an understanding of the overall response plan for campus, UOEM recommends that the department/unit’s IRT review Section 2 – Concept of Operations of the Emergency Operations Plan. The Concept of Operations section provides an overview of the emergency management structure and procedures for responding to an emergency situation. Section 2 is available on the UOEM website: http://em.uoregon.edu//plans/response/
UO Emergency Management has updated the emergency procedures manual. The manual is available on-line on the UOEM website: http://em.uoregon.edu/procedures/. Have your team review the UO emergency procedures manual and develop department/unit-specific response procedures for each hazard addressed in the manual. Ask yourselves if there are additional steps that you would take that aren’t included in the manual.
What if an emergency occurs while your department/unit head is away on vacation? Does everyone in the department/unit know who is in charge? Written orders of succession identify who will fill critical leadership positions if the department/unit head or other key leadership personnel are absent or unavailable during an emergency. Designate three successors (three-deep) for each crucial leadership position. Those listed in the order of succession should be identified by title rather than name.
In an emergency you may need to contact department/unit faculty and staff quickly. Do you have a way of contacting department/unit personnel outside normal work hours? Some department/units may want to contact all staff outside work hours (a telephone tree) while other department/units may only need to contact specific staff members (an emergency contact list). Build the type of list that will best fit your department/unit needs in an emergency. At a minimum, the list should include multiple methods of contacting employees.
You may also want to collect an out of state contact in case local phone service is disrupted. Hard and electronic copies should be maintained and IRT members should have copies available at home. Documentation can also be included on which staff members can perform certain critical functions so that they can quickly be contacted if necessary.
Sample Incident Response Call List
Effective communication is essential to effective emergency response. Think about the following in developing your communications plan:
Encourage your employees with text message capable phones to sign up for the UO Alert! text notification system. To participate in UO Alert! follow the instructions below.
Does your department/unit have offices or permanent operations in more than one building, city, state, or country? Identify these locations. Ideally, representatives from all department/unit locations should be included on the emergency planning team. Departments/units should consider how an emergency somewhere else might affect UO activities. You should also consider whether everyone has the building access they would need in an emergency.
How will the need to evacuate be communicated to department/unit staff? Where should staff go after they evacuate the building? How can you be sure that all department/unit staff are accounted for following evacuation? Do you have plans for evacuation of persons with permanent or temporary mobility impairment if the elevators are not operating or cannot be used (fire, earthquake). Has each employee identified at least two evacuation routes from their work location?
Some emergencies, such as pandemics and earthquakes may have long durations. In these instances, it may be helpful to think about critical supplies that your department/unit utilizes and pre-order them.
What if your building loses power or you are instructed to “shelter in place” for a period of time? Helpful supplies might include a battery powered or hand-crank radio, a flashlight, extra batteries, a whistle to signal for help, plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place, and a first aid kit.
Environmental Health & Safety provides recommendations for a department/unit first aid kit on their website at: http://oehs.uoregon.edu/policies/emp/fakit.html. Emergency and first aid kit contents should be inventoried at least annually and out-of-date items replaced.
Employees can take individual steps to become better prepared. Activities may include:
Document your department/unit’s IRT and leadership lines of succession, department/unit specific procedures, emergency contact/telephone tree, location of evacuation assembly points, and location of emergency kits. Keep copies of this in several locations in your department/unit, you may want some staff to keep hard copies at home.
Also send a copy of your department/unit emergency response plan to UO Emergency Management so that it can be filed along with the university’s Emergency Operations Plan.
Sample Business Emergency Plans from Ready.gov
Emergency response plans and materials are only as good as the last time they were updated. In order for these materials to be helpful in an actual emergency, the information needs to be kept up to date. UO Emergency Management recommends that department/unit IRTs revisit this information on at least an annual basis. Department/units may want to dedicate at least one staff meeting per year to review the procedures and update any out of date information.
Planning for an emergency is critical, but even the most careful plans work best if they are tested. Schedule and carry out at least one drill using your emergency plan each year. Components of your plans can be tested separately. For example, an evacuation drill, a test of your internal communications channels, or a test of your department/unit response to a selected emergency.
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