Getting prepared
Getting reliable information during an emergency can be difficult in a large institution. That’s why Concordia’s Office of Emergency Management has developed an elaborate and dependable emergency procedure plan to keep employees and students informed in the event of an emergency on campus.
Concordia has a multi-platform approach to notifying the university community during emergencies, which may range from gas leaks and fires to power outages and severe weather.
The university’s staff and faculty notification system uses contact information that employees have provided in their human resources profiles in the MyConcordia portal. “I pull all that information and put it into a notification system,” says Darren Dumoulin, senior advisor for Concordia’s emergency management office. “It groups staff and faculty according to the building that they work in so that I can advise all employees in a particular building of an emergency in that building, neighbouring buildings or the entire campus.”
The notification system uses text-to-voice technology. The notification is typed into an application, which delivers the message by voice to text to cell phones, office phones, email and home phones if necessary.
“On one part, we want to educate staff to the existence of this system to make sure that they keep their contact information up-to-date in their HR profile,” says Dumoulin.
Though the system is new, it was used recently during the student strikes to notify staff and faculty in the Guy-Metro Building that the entrance was being blocked by protesters. “We sent out a message to let people know that the police were on their way,” says Dumoulin, noting that the system was successful.
Dumoulin stresses that the key to staying informed during an emergency is being aware of the notification methods employed by the university. In the coming weeks, staff and faculty will receive test messages to raise awareness about the emergency notification system and to ensure that the process runs smoothly.
Though the notification system is automatically set up for employees of the university, Dumoulin explains that it works differently on the students’ side. “In case of an emergency, we reach out to our students through the SMS system that is maintained by Concordia’s Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS).”
Students can register for this service by signing in to the MyConcordia portal. Under the Messaging tab, students may opt for the messaging services they wish to receive.
For students and employees who do not own cellular phones or who do not wish to subscribe to the notification system, the University Communications Services (UCS) will send emails and post to the Concordia website in the case of an emergency on campus.
The Concordia community and the general public may stay up-to-date with major emergencies at the university by calling 514-848-8800 at any time (ext. 8800 internally). An automated message will inform the caller of the nature of the emergency (if any), as well as of the measures to be taken.
Updates will also be posted to Emergency Management’s Twitter account (@concordia911) and Facebook page.
As well as routine fire drills held yearly at Concordia, the university offers a selection of training sessions, which prepare students, staff and faculty for various emergencies. These courses include first aid, CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), fire prevention and emergency preparedness.
Promoting emergency preparedness is a major challenge for the Office of Emergency Management, and will be its focus for the coming year. “Some emergencies, like fires, we have always been prepared for,” says Dumoulin. “But earthquakes and severe weather are always a possibility but receive less attention. Severe weather is becoming more common and is something we will be working on monitoring a little closer in coming times.”
Related links:
• Concordia's Office of Emergency Management
• Emergency Management on Facebook
• Emergency Management on Twitter
• MyConcordia portal
• IITS