Individual Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the Provost:

College policy is that the Provost is responsible for emergency plans at each campus. The Provost, in conjunction with the President, usually determines whether to evacuate buildings or shelter in place. However, the Provost may delegate this and various tasks to others, as follows.

• Delegate the creation of the emergency plans to the Business Manager, Campus Police Lieutenant, and Facilities Manager, for creation, maintenance, training, and implementation at Alexandria.
• Ensure there is an "Acting Provost" or Evening Administrator, during absences, who will assume responsibility for determining whether an evacuation or shelter in place is necessary. All will follow the instructions of the ranking Fire Chief or Police Officer on the scene in case of fire or bomb threat.
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Determine what actions will be taken if the evacuated building cannot be reoccupied within a reasonable time. (I.e., move activities to another building, release personnel for the day, etc.), and disseminate information to appropriate people.
• Discuss events with President and Public Information Office.

The Provost is a member of the Command Post when an evacuation takes place and will go to the Command Post location, if practical.

Responsibilities of Provost's Staff:

• Ensure their employees familiarize students and visitors with evacuation routes and review other emergency response procedures during the first class meeting of each term or other meeting.
• Designate Building and Floor Wardens for the areas their staffs occupy.
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Disseminate pertinent information contained in the plan to the appropriate members of the campus community (students, staff, and faculty).
• Ensure that faculty and staff keep their work and teaching areas free of clutter and that any hazardous or flammable materials used are disposed of according to the requirements of OSHA and the emergency and fire prevention plans.
• Set the proper example for behavior during evacuations or other emergencies.
• Report to the Command Post during an evacuation for further instructions as to how they can help.
• Ensure their staff comply with instructions by authorized individuals.
• Assist in the evacuation of Persons with Disabilities (personally, or by getting help).

Note: One designated member of the Provost's Staff (currently the LRS Director) will ensure the wardens in AT, AE, and AS have evacuated all persons. The Business Manager will perform the same function in AA.

Responsibilities of the Campus Facilities Manager:

• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Conduct periodic fire and safety inspections of buildings and related equipment (including fire alarm system and fire extinguishers) as previously specified.
• Ensure his staff posts correct emergency evacuation diagrams in all rooms.
• Assign Building Wardens for the Maintenance Building, as well as Floor Wardens for the boiler rooms.
• Assist with bomb searches.
• Handle other duties, as specified below, under Responsibilities of Police and Facilities.

Responsibilities of Business Manager:

• Ensure the emergency plans are updated, and that training and implementation are done correctly, as designated by the Provost.
• Ensure that each party meets its responsibility, as stipulated by the plan.
• Act as "floater," ensuring that Bisdorf Bldg is emptied after wardens have done their work and that all Wardens are accounted for. Assume other tasks as designated by the Command Post commander.
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Coordinate/disseminate information with Command Post, Wardens, First Responders.
• Notify the Vice President of F&AS and College Police Chief of events, in coordination with Campus Police Lieutenant.

Responsibilities of Campus Police Lieutenant:

• Create and maintain updated emergency evacuation plans and equipment.
• Provide training for police and wardens, as stipulated in this document and in coordination with other campus emergency evacuation leaders.
• Instruct officers to ensure fire doors are closed and operational during each of their rounds. Notify Facilities immediately if doors or locks are found dysfunctional.
• Coordinate annual familiarity visits with first responding local fire and rescue stations. Ensure they know the layout of the campus and buildings, location of MSDS sheets, location of hazardous areas: e.g., chemistry labs, automotive...
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Act as Command Post leader and Evacuation Coordinator, if available.
• Prepare records of all evacuation events, false alarms, training sessions, etc. and maintain them for a period of two years; notify Business Manager.

Responsibilities of Evacuation Coordinator:

This person usually is the Campus Police Lieutenant or on-duty Officer, but may be the Business Manager.

• Know where all emergency equipment is located.

Establish Coordination Points directly away from the exit corridors of the buildings being evacuated and direct all actions necessary to ensure the safe, expeditious evacuation of the building, as well as being a clearing house for rescue workers. The Coordination Points for Bisdorf personnel are the B-1 and B-6 Student Parking Lots and A-2 and A-4 Faculty/Staff Parking Lots. The Coordination Point for the Engineering Building is B-5 Student Parking Lot. Coordination Point for Tyler Building and Schlesinger Center is A-8 Faculty/Staff Parking Lot and Soccer Field behind Tyler.

• Determine the problem that caused the evacuation and initiate appropriate actions.
• Determine, in coordination with the fire department officials, when to silence the alarm system.
• Take reports from Building Wardens and Business Manager as to the progress of the evacuation and any obstacles. Reassign Floor Wardens to other tasks, as needed.
• Implement crowd control measures, using Building Wardens when possible.
• Determine, in coordination with fire department officials, when the building can be reoccupied, and notify the Business Manager, Provost, Building Wardens, Campus Police, Facilities Staff, the Vice President of F&AS, and Pubic Information Officer. The Business Manager can assist with notifications.
• Keep the Provost and Vice President of F&AS advised of the status of the emergency and evacuation throughout. The Business Manager can assist.
• Submit the Building Evacuation Report to the Provost and Vice President of F&AS within one hour after reoccupation of the building is authorized or upon request of the Provost, Dean or Business Manager, whichever is earlier. The final report must include reports from wardens, so this timetable is a guideline, not a requirement.

Responsibilities of Floor Wardens:

• Supervise the orderly and complete evacuation of the assigned areas of the building, ensuring that each office, classroom, bathroom, hallway, etc. has been vacated (using a flashlight when necessary). In each room, close windows and doors, turn off lights (unless otherwise instructed by Campus Police) and mark the doors tape, so no one else wastes time checking areas that have been cleared.
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Notify the Building Evacuation Wardens, at the holding site, when the assignment is complete, if someone will not evacuate, or there is a serious problem in some location, such as inability to evacuate a person with disabilities.
• Submit evacuation report to the Evacuation Coordinator within thirty minutes after the reoccupation of the building or upon request from the Evacuation Coordinator, whichever is earlier.

Responsibilities of Building Evacuation Wardens:

• Supervise the orderly and complete evacuation of assigned buildings and maintain crowd control in the holding area, described below. Ensure people do not leave campus until directed to do so.
• Direct people to the nearest Coordination Point/s and ensure they do not re-enter the buildings until the Campus Police Lieutenant gives the directive to do so.
• Check off names of Floor Wardens and status of their assigned areas as reports they report.
• Know where all emergency equipment is located.
• Notify the Business Manager or Evacuation Coordinator at the Command Post when the building has been evacuated.
• Ensure that people do not re-enter the building before authorization by the Evacuation Coordinator.
• Notify people when the Evacuation Coordinator has authorized reoccupation of the building.
• Submit evacuation report to the Evacuation Director within thirty minutes after the reoccupation of the building or upon request from the Evacuation Director, whichever is earlier.

Responsibilities of Faculty and Staff:

First things to do before an emergency:

• Instructors and others using the facilities are required to notify their students and guests about how to evacuate the building - from the specific room they are using - at the beginning of the first class or meeting of every term. Within ten minutes from the start of a meeting, the leader must announce the location of emergency exits and emergency evacuation procedures to the attendees.
• If a person with disabilities is in your class: share the plan with them as pertains to their evacuation. Below, there is a special section for people in wheelchairs. Ask them the appropriate questions. You may even designate someone to help them in case of emergency. Know where all emergency equipment that you might need (such as wheelchairs) is located. Confer with the Campus Police about options, if desirable.

First thing to do when the fire alarm sounds:

• Ensure that all occupants take their belongings with them. All persons should take their car keys, coats, books, purses, etc. with them, as there is no assurance they will be allowed back into the building, and searches will be greatly simplified.
• Turn off potentially dangerous equipment. Turn off gas, lights, engines, machinery, oxygen, acetylene, and other support systems.
• Evacuate the building immediately in an orderly manner. This should be done in accordance with the Evacuation Plan posted on the wall near the door and the following directions. Close all doors upon leaving the classroom, lab, shop or office area.
• Do not use the elevators.
• Do not use cell phones, unless designated to do so by the police.
• Move to the designated areas, as directed by the evacuation wardens. Usually, you have no way to know whether an incident is actual emergency or a droll nor where the incident location is. Behave as if all alarms signal actual emergencies.
• Where to Go:
  • Occupants exiting the Bisdorf Building are to congregate in Coordination Points directly away from and nearest their exit routes from the building. Coordination Points for Bisdorf are B-1 and B-6 Student Parking Lots and A-2 and A-4 Faculty/Staff Parking Lots.
  • Occupants exiting from the Engineering Building will congregate in B-5 Student Parking Lot.
  • Occupants of Tyler and Schlesinger Buildings will congregate in A-8 Faculty/Staff Parking Lot and Soccer Field behind Tyler.

  Do not argue with the evacuation team members about where to go. If the evacuation were prompted by a bomb threat, everyone needs to be at least 350 feet from the suspected location.

  • Assist or designate someone to assist people with disabilities in your classroom or office area. Elevators must not be used.
  • In Bisdorf and Schlesinger, people with mobility disabilities should be moved to the stairwells and given assistance in getting down the stairs. Evacu-Traks are available to help people in wheelchairs go downstairs.

  In Bisdorf only, in marked stairwells, there is an Area of Rescue Assistance (ARA), which can be activated by a person with disabilities to make a shrill sound by touching the notification button. A person who views the annunciator panel, can determine in which Bisdorf Bldg stairwell the disabled person is located. By law, one of the two following things must happen. If the observer touches the "acknowledge" button, (s)he, personally, must proceed immediately to that location to help the disabled person. The alternative is to immediately notify the Campus Police to summon their assistance for the disabled person.

  • People may request aid from Facilities staff for extremely heavy persons, but Facilities staff has many other responsibilities and are unlikely to be available, so faculty should try to get other assistance. See next section for details on how to help people with specific disabilities.