Emergency management in American universities

In emergency management, higher learning institutions must frequently adapt broad, varied policies to deal with the unique scope of disasters that can occur in on-campus settings.

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires are among some of the most common natural disasters that possess the capacity for large losses of life and property, with the potential to effectively destroy a university community.

In order to preemptively reduce or prevent the severity of emergency situations, universities must coordinate and implement policies to effectively eliminate unnecessary risks' and decrease potential losses.

The success or failure of how disaster management is addressed by campus officials can have a major impact on future preparedness and response efforts for that university and set examples or standards for other schools.

Flooding and extensive damage to half of the campus forced it to cancel fall semester and try to relocate all of its students to other universities while recovery efforts took place.

The Renewal Plan received mix feelings and a lot of backlash by several groups including American Association of University Professors, the Save Tulane Engineering Campaign, as well as students and faculty.

Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, an area hit hardest by the storms, was also closed for several days while officials assessed the damage.

The small campus located in the center of Raleigh was unable to provide alternate dining options and made the decision to end the semester a little earlier due to the damage.

For some of these institutions, a restructuring of currently implemented policy has been undertaken, in order to ensure greater preparedness for the wide variety of man-made emergencies that can occur in a campus setting.

Following high-profile incidents such as the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, many universities have been forced to redesign existing response plans in order to better address the variety of threats posed by gun violence situations.

Timely notification of the authorities is crucial in these situations to ensure that experienced strategies are used to effectively bring an end to the emergency with a minimum cost to life or property.

From these lessons, other university campuses taking steps to improve their existing hostage crisis plans may achieve a more comprehensive level of preparedness in the event that this emergency occurs.

A sample response plan from the University of Arkansas[34] emphasizes quick, effective strategy for containing chemical spill situations in a campus setting.

Even in this scenario, however, when a minor spill was successfully contained with minimal injuries, communication lapses prevented potentially at-risk individuals from understanding the actual situation.

Communicable disease outbreaks are no stranger to college campuses, due to the highly concentrated population of individuals present in a comparatively small environment.

In the event of an outbreak, however, campus officials can prepare to adequately handle the unique scenario presented by a high concentration of students in a comparatively small area.

Steps may be taken to ensure that adequate lines of communication for concerned families and students seeking information are established, in order to prevent an overload of resources.

Campus officials attempting to address these situations must prioritize the safe evacuation of building occupants, and containing the spill to avoid further harmful contamination.

Evacuation also enables the relevant authorities to carry out comprehensive cleaning procedures, as well as analyzing the full risks of the incident, which may not be readily apparent in a radiological emergency.

These plans of response provide the entire campus with specific guild lines to properly prepare, respond, and recovery in the event of an emergency.

The entire university including facility members, students, staff, and campus police should all be familiar the plan's procedures, and use it as quick reference for effective action.

East Carolina University emergency operations plans[40] main purpose is to "establish a comprehensive, all-hazards approach to managing disasters and emergencies at ECU across a spectrum of activities including preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation", while the plan also "describes both authorities and practices for managing and coordinating the response to incidents that range from the serious but isolated, to large-scale incidents and natural disasters".

After a chain of command has been established it is critical to have a coordination of communication to "address media relations and communications issues, as well as identifies procedures for the rapid identification of potentially harmful situations and the methods for responding to these situations quickly and effectively"[41] East Carolina crisis team consist of a minimum of 11 members ranging from the chancellor to the university attorney, each with their own specific duties and roles.

Stanford University implemented a three level system to pinpoint the appropriate measures of actions based on the campus goals, to protect life and safety, secure critical infrastructure and facilities, and resume teaching and research programs.

Universities that respond in a manner similar to Stanford response plan will prove to lessen the damage caused by the disaster, and place the campus in a good position to recover.

[45] The Louisiana Delta Community College will try to recover the entire student database, staff email, network file storage, and website content.

These hurricane, earthquake, flooding, and man made disasters require effective, issue sensitive policies to best meet the needs of the university communities in a crisis situation.

Each institution must deal with different resources and threats in order to minimize the potential losses of life or limb, resulting in unique responses to perceived risks.

[46] The four phases of emergency management are in place to help ensure that the public remains calm and prepared, as well as to attempt at retaining the pre-disaster quality of life as much as possible during these unpleasant situations.

When a disaster of a serious magnitude takes place, there must be a clear action plan implemented, in order to control the situation and eventually rebuild from the destruction of the crisis.