Emergency Preparedness Plan

The purpose of this Emergency Preparedness Plan is to protect lives and property while on campus.

1.0 Definition and Declaration of an Emergency

An emergency is an event or an incident that cannot be managed using routine measures or resources. The President of the College (or designee) will declare a state of emergency when such an event or incident occurs and the guidelines described in this plan will be implemented to respond to, to manage and to recover from the emergency.

1.1 Purpose and Scope of the Plan

The purpose of this Emergency Preparedness Plan is to protect lives and property.

We understand that an emergency typically occurs suddenly and without warning, that any defined approach to responding to an emergency may vary depending on specific conditions at the time of the emergency and that an emergency may occur that has not been identified in this plan. These guidelines are therefore based on realistic approaches to responding to, managing and recovering from the potential emergencies that have been identified in this plan. These guidelines are however, flexible enough to accommodate other approaches to emergencies identified in this plan and other emergencies that may not currently be identified in this plan.

1.2 Campus Responsibilities

The development and maintenance of this Emergency Preparedness Plan is a critically important institutional task. If an emergency does occur, the guidelines defined in this plan may have a direct effect on reducing personal injury and property damage.

However, we must understand that maintaining our campus preparedness for recognizing and responding to an emergency is a responsibility of every member of our campus community as shown below by the defined campus preparedness elements.

• Intelligence - The campus community has the responsibility to recognize and report any event with the potential for developing into an emergency, or to provide intelligence, to our Public Safety Office.
• Awareness - The Public Safety Office has the responsibility to maintain current knowledge of any developing local, state or national potential of an emergency and to inform the campus community of this developing potential.
• Training - The Campus Emergency Response Team has the responsibility to identify and resource the delivery of emergency prevention and preparedness training to the campus community.
• Testing - The Campus Emergency Response Team has the responsibility to insure testing of the Emergency Preparedness Plan through simulated occurrences of emergencies to determine the effectiveness of the guidelines defined in this plan.
• Maintenance - The Campus Emergency Response Team has the responsibility to regularly review the Emergency Preparedness Plan to maintain the accuracy, currency and completeness of the plan. The Campus Emergency Response Team has the responsibility to coordinate the regular review of all other related emergency documents. In the event of the occurrence of an emergency the Campus Emergency Management Team has the responsibility to conduct a thorough post-emergency review to determine the effectiveness of our campus response and to modify this plan as appropriate.

Committee Members

Fred Aliberti: Director of Public Safety

Richard Edwards: Director of Physical Plant

Dennis Kennedy: Executive Director Communications & Marketing

Claudine Potvin-Giordiano: Director of Health Services and Clinical Coordinator

Laurie Vivekanand: Director of Environmental Health & Safety

Safety and Health Resources

The following campus departments and resources can provide you with safety and health assistance:

• Public Safety
  Located in the south end of the Siek Campus Center, Public Safety’s mission is to provide a safe, secure atmosphere and is open 24 hours a day. Contact Public Safety for all emergencies by dialing 911 from a campus phone or (518) 629-7210 from a cell phone.
• Health Services
  Provides employees and students with health information and medical attention. For assistance, report to Health Services, located in Siek Campus Center, Suite 270.
• Environmental Health and Safety
  Provides guidance and training on all occupational safety and environmental health issues. Contact the department at (518) 629-7163 or (518) 629-7787.
• College Safety Committee
  With representatives from across campus, the committee promotes and strengthens all aspects of safety and health on the campus. You can report a safety issue to the college Safety Committee through the webpage.