Emergency Preparedness WeekSpring 2012

Kristine Elderkin, Emergency Management Coordinator Environmental Health, Safety and Insurance Dept.

kelderki@austincc.edu

What is Emergency Preparedness Week?

Emergency Preparedness Week takes place the 3rd week of every semester. It is an opportunity to educate students, faculty, and staff on the best actions to take if an emergency were to happen on campus. Drills and testing of emergency preparedness equipment are also done at this time. What follows is a summary of the feedback gathered from faculty, staff, students, emergency team members and drill observers during selected Emergency Preparedness Week activities.

Training Opportunities

• 52 faculty, staff and students attended the Crime Prevention seminar Campus Police offered at 4 different campuses

• 14 faculty and staff members attended CPR/AED training sponsored by the Environmental Health and Safety Dept. To find a class, check the professional development calendar.

The cooperation shown by most everyone during the drills is much appreciated. Congratulations on the quick evacuation times but we can do better:1. Always move to exit the building as soon as you recognize the fire alarm. One

person at RGC was very slow to leave B3000 and needed encouragement from Campus Police to do so.

2. Don’t be confused by “fire doors”. They are doors that are usually held open but close automatically when the fire alarm sounds to contain smoke and fire. These doors can and should be pushed open by people leaving the building.

3. Use all available stairwells. Stairwells are marked on the campus safety plan posted in all classrooms. Remember, the best way out may not be the way you came in. Official Drill Observers noticed that most people used the main stairwell in their building. This caused delays and back-ups. If Emergency Team members recognize this problem they should direct people to alternate stairwells.

Campus Fire DrillsCYP Build. 2000 RVS Build. A RGC Build. 3000 SVC

Announced Drill? Partial Partial Partial No

Time to Evacuate 4 minutes 4 minutes 2 ½ min (majority)5 min (complete)

3 minutes

Faculty, Staff &Students Emergency TeamsLocation Participants Comments

OfferedParticipants Comments

OfferedCYP 41 9 8 3RVS 15 9 1 0RGC 21 11 1 0SVC 41 7 4 1

Feedback on DrillsGathered via SurveyMonkey

The majority of comments received were positive and/or constructive in nature. For example, traffic issues were a serious issue at CYP and RGC. In recognition of this issue, Emergency Teams will be issued hand-held STOP signs as an aid in controlling traffic. And an alternate rally point is being sought for RGC Building 3000 so people don’t have to cross 2 busy streets. Thanks for helping us to identify areas for improvement.

Seven out of 9 people who reported using the Areas of Rescue Assistance were satisfied with their experience.• Both people reporting dissatisfaction were unaware of the location of the Area of

Rescue Assistance and that help was available.• To get more information, please refer to the campus safety plan posted in all

classrooms, to the Area of Rescue Assistance link on the Emergency web page and/or contact your Campus Manager.

020406080

100

% of Survey Respondents Answering "Yes"

CYP RVS RGC SVC

Feedback on DrillsGathered via SurveyMonkey

ACC Emergency Alert StatsFeb 2011

ParticipationSept 2011

ParticipationFeb 2012

ParticipationEmployees 35% 38% 45%Students 5% 11% 12%

Currently ACC has a voluntary/opt-in system for emergency notification. Approximately 45% of Faculty and Staff have registered their cell phones for voice and text notifications. Approx. 12% of students have done the same. A greater level of participation would allow more rapid and direct notification of the ACC community in the event of emergency. The information that people provide is private and will not be shared. Alerts are sent in urgent situations and for system testing during Emergency Preparedness Week. ACC will implement a required/opt-out system this year.

For help signing up check out the tutorials.

ACC Emergency Alert StatsEmail and Phone Calls Fall 2011 Spring 2012

% of emails successfully completed 99.1% 98.3%

% of phone calls successfully completed 81.7% 81.1%

• Most email addresses were successfully reached.

• A fair amount of phone data is not accurate. Faculty, staff and students can get their calls where they want them by providing or updating their information in Online Services (see tutorials).

• Approximately 66% of people called during the ACC Emergency Alert test let the call go to voicemail. Some people didn’t answer their phones because they saw an “unknown” number. ACC Emergency Alerts come from the following number which we encourage you to enter into your contacts: 1-866-259-0578. Consider assigning it a special ring tone so you know to pay attention to it.

ACC Emergency Alert Stats

* These individuals completed Step 1 of a two-step process. An SMS number was provided in Online Services but they did not reply to the text message asking for confirmation. To complete sign-up, text “Y” to short code 68453.

Text Messaging Fall 2011 Spring 2012

% of ACC receiving emergency text messages 4.9% 5.4%

% of ACC NOT SUCCESSFULLY signed up for emergency text messages*

6.3% 6.9%

% of ACC NOT signed up for emergency text messages

88.8% 87.7%

Text messaging participation is dismal although it is on the rise! If you signed up in Online Services for ACC Emergency Alerts via text message but did not receive one on Feb 2 when we tested the system, complete your sign-up by texting “Y’ to short code 68453. If you haven’t sign up, please do so. It is a two-step process:1. Enter your information in Online Services2. Reply “Y” to the text message that is sent to your phone asking you to confirm

your participation in ACC Emergency Alerts.

Looking Forward

ACC’s next Emergency Preparedness Week will be June 11-15, 2012. We will again conduct seminars and drills and ask for your feedback. We will also test ACC Emergency Alert and hope to see improvements in the areas of phone and text message delivery.

We will continue to enhance Emergency Preparedness Week with practical information and training opportunities. Your input is welcome.