The campus has again launched its "Know the Drill" awareness campaign to urge everyone to be prepared for disasters.
Posters have been placed in campus shuttles and elsewhere emphasizing three important messages:
• Be familiar with your program's emergency action plan.
• Develop a family disaster plan.
• Participate in emergency preparedness training.
Emergency Plans
UCSF offers a variety of opportunities to help faculty, staff and students be prepared for emergencies and disasters. Both campus and medical center programs are required to have emergency plans with basic safety information. Campus plans, known as Emergency Action Plans (EAPs), and medical center plans, known as Department Safety Plans, contain information about:
• Inventory of emergency supplies
• Evacuation plan with routes and exits
• Location of emergency phones, fire alarm pull stations and fire extinguishers
• Location of the department emergency assembly area
• An assigned department emergency/safety coordinator.
 |
| The poster |
In addition, EAPs require an emergency communication and after-hours notification plan, and also recommend that departments identify their special functions and make emergency response and recovery plans specific to their activities. For example, departments with vital records and databases, specimens or special equipment should have a plan to protect and recover these resources. Programs that have a high volume of patients or visitors, or that have staff, who have identified themselves as having a disability that requires special assistance, should include these groups in their emergency response planning.
For more information about the Campus Emergency Action Plans, contact Michael Sorenson from UC Police Department (UCPD) at 415/476-5683 or see the
EAP template (Word file).
For information about the medical center safety plan, contact the department safety coordinator.
Personal Preparedness
In addition to being familiar with safety measures at UCSF, all members of the campus community are encouraged to develop personal and family emergency plans. To find a variety of web-based resources to assist in identifying supplies and compiling information that will be essential for personal and family preparedness in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, see
this story.
Our recent experiences witnessing earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis remind us of the danger and intensity of natural disasters, and we must be ready to be self-sufficient for a number of days," says Susan Garritson, UCSF bioterrorism coordinator.
The UCSF
Campus Work-Life program (pdf) and the American Red Cross will co-host a Personal Preparedness for Disaster education program on Thursday, Oct. 27, from noon to 1 p.m. in the School of Nursing building, room N 721.
November Drill
For the third year, medical center and campus officials will jointly participate in a disaster exercise on Tuesday, Nov. 15. This year's exercise is being coordinated through the California Office of Homeland Security, and will test health and medical services with the complete emergency management system in California.
The scenario, which is a terrorism event using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a chemical release, is intended to enhance interagency coordination and cooperation, provide training to staff, test response and recovery capabilities and activate the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS)/National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the mutual aid system across California. The medical center has scheduled an emergency preparedness update and drill orientation for Monday, Oct. 31, from 11 a.m. to noon in Toland Hall on the Parnassus campus. Watch for additional information in campus publications.
In addition, the medical center has produced a
staff emergency preparedness brochure (pdf) with instructions including how to respond to disaster alerts. This brochure, as well as the UCPD's emergency information card, contains important campus and medical center phone numbers and information resources.
Source: Lisa Cisneros
