EMBCP Plan Activation and Operation

Actions by Phases

Mitigation

• Schedule building fire and safety inspections in coordination with the Orange Fire Department.
• Conduct safety and awareness training in coordination with local, state, and national resources.
• Include safety resources and orientation to new employees during their new employee orientation.
• Train all employees in evacuation, shelter in place, basic fire and safety procedures.
• Identify trends leading to accidents, injury, and lost time and tailor safety training programs to reverse these trends.
• Test fire and security alarms quarterly and upgrade as necessary and when budgets will allow.

Preparedness

• Provide emergency equipment and facilities where available and ensure relationships with local emergency responders include the needed resources.
• Conduct appropriate training for our emergency management team and incident response team.
• At least once a semester, LSCO will test the BlackboardConnect messaging system and send out a TEST only emergency message.
• Educate the Gator Community on ways one can prepare themselves, their families, and loved ones in the event of an emergency. 
• The Emergency Management Team, outside professional individuals, department supervisors, or other local emergency service entities will prepare/train the Gator Community on topics as needed or identified in order to protect lives and property.

Response

• Determine level of response required.
• Initiate BlackboardConnect emergency notification system.
• Alert emergency medical services, firefighting, and law enforcement.
• Initiate evacuation, shelter in place, and emergency public information.

Recovery

• Secure the campus and determine if the environment is safe to begin recovery efforts.
• Restore vital services and determine the basic needs of the students, faculty, and staff.
• Initiate debris removal, restoration of utilities, and structural repair.
• Sustain recovery messaging via the BlackboardConnect system.
• Provide community resources as needed for students, faculty, and staff.

Level of Response

In responding to any emergency it is important for the CIC to classify the severity or level of the event. This plan utilizes the following definitions:

Level 1 – Minor Incident. A Minor Incident is defined as a local event with limited impact which does not affect the overall functioning capacity of the College.  Examples would be a contained hazardous material incident or a limited power outage. The initial responders and/or Security typically handle the situation.

The CIC may be notified, but the EMBCP is not activated (neither the EMT nor the IRT respond).

Level 2 – Emergency. Any incident, potential or actual, which seriously disrupts the overall operation of the College. Examples would be a building fire, a civil disturbance, or a widespread power outage of extended duration. The initial responders and/or Security cannot handle the situation.

The CIC is notified and the EMBCP is activated and outside support services may be required.

A major emergency requires activation or partial activation of the EMBCP (the IRT is assembled and the EMT is consulted). Several Units respond and outside emergency services may also be involved.

Level 3 – Disaster.  Any event or occurrence that has taken place and has seriously impaired or halted the operations of the College. Examples would be a hurricane, a damaging tornado or other community- wide emergency. The event would likely disable College operations for at least 24 hours.

In some cases large numbers of Student, Staff, and Faculty casualties or severe property damage may be sustained. A Disaster requires activation of the EMBCP (the IRT is assembled and the EMT is consulted).  Most if not all Units respond and outside emergency services will likely be involved.

Expected Impact

Plan Notification and Activation

Monitoring Responsibilities

The primary responsibility for monitoring emergency threats and events resides with Security. Security serves on a continuous 24/7/365 basis and is always available to receive emergency communications from a variety of official and public sources, including:

• National Warning System
• National Weather Service (NWS)
• Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)
• State Police
• Local Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services
• College communication systems
• Emergency telephone calls

Other entities, notably Facilities, will monitor developing weather systems. However, such activity does not mitigate the responsibility of Security to serve as the central communications point for all campus threats including weather related emergencies which may develop slowly (severe winter storms, blizzards, hurricanes, etc.) or suddenly (tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, etc.).

Notification

Security has overall responsibility for alerting the appropriate parties.  Accordingly, initial responders should always contact Security immediately. First responders may also contact other appropriate entities - such as the Fire Department if a fire breaks out.

In case of any type of emergency, the Director of Safety and Security (supervisor in charge) should follow Security standard operating procedures. If the emergency warrants, he/she should communicate immediately with the Vice President of Finance & Business Operations, who should communicate with the College Incident Commander.  No one else should attempt to contact the CIC for purposes of notification. If there is doubt that the CIC has been contacted then Security should be contacted for clarification.

Security will have a list of the EMT members and telephone contact information. If the CIC is not available, Security will have the priority list of CIC and continue to make telephone calls until contact is made.

Faculty, Staff, and Students will be notified via Blackboard Connect of any emergency affecting overall college activities. Notifications will be via phone, email, and text.

Plan Activation

Plan activation begins at the discretion of the CIC upon the receipt of information of an emergency event or threat of an emergency. Based on the Security report, and information obtained from other appropriate entities, the CIC will declare the level of the emergency and activate the EMP to the extent necessary to control the situation.

Upon activation, the IRT will be notified and should report to the designated command center as directed. The CIC shall review the circumstances of the emergency with the EMT and determine the appropriate response. The Incident Response Plan provides general guidelines for responding to specific disasters.

Warning

LSCO authorities will make a decision concerning issuing of a timely warning on a case-by-case basis using the following criteria:

• Nature of the crime
• Danger and continuing danger to the campus
• Risk of compromising law enforcement efforts

Should it be deemed necessary to warn the College community of an impending threat or emergency situation, Faculty, Staff, and Students will be notified via BlackboardConnect.  Notifications will be via phone, email, and text.  Timely Warning notices are usually written by the Director of Safety and Security and distributed through BlackboardConnect.  Warnings will contain information about the nature of the threat and allow members of the community to take protective actions.  All employees and students are automatically signed up for BlackboardConnect alerts. If you are not receiving alerts, please review the “Disseminating Information on Campus Crime” section of this handout to ensure your contact information is included.

If either an Emergency or a Disaster (Level 2 or 3) is declared, the EMBCP will be activated.  Upon declaration of an emergency or disaster, the IRT members needed to respond will be notified and should report immediately to the designated command center location. The EMT will also be notified and should report as needed.

Predictable events, such as a   certain   meteorological   storm, are   treated   differently   from emergency incidents.  Security is designated to monitor these events on a 24/7/365 basis.  The Director of Safety and Security or his/her designee will contact the CIC.

Plan Activation / Notification

Command Posts

Emergency Command Post

In an isolated emergency (typically a Level 2 Emergency) the CIC and all summoned IRT members may report directly to the Emergency Command Post (ECP). EMT members will also be contacted and may also be present.
The ECP will be a designated area near the site of the emergency but located a safe distance from the emergency site. The CIC will determine the ECP location. The CIC will direct response activities and work assignments from the ECP.

Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

In a campus-wide emergency (typically a Level 3 Disaster) the CIC and all summoned IRT members may report to EOC. EMT members will also be contacted and will be present.

The primary EOC will be continuously maintained in a state of readiness for conversion and activation. The EOC serves as the centralized, well-supported location in which the IRT and the EMT may gather and assume their role. Response activities and work assignments will be planned, coordinated and delegated from the EOC.

• The primary EOC is located at:
  Room 103, Shahan Events Center
• If the primary EOC is inaccessible the backup EOC on campus will be located at: Academic Center, Room 101
• If the above EOCs are inaccessible the backup EOC off campus will be located at either: The Brown Estate - Orange, TX or Texas State University – San Marcos, TX

Campus Recovery

After a Disaster where College operations have been shut down, the entire campus environment may be dangerous.  As illustrated in the following table the first recovery step is to secure the campus and then  to secure all College facilities.  Only after the environment is safe can restoration efforts begin followed by an orderly reopening of normal College operations.

1. Initial
   The Damage Assessment Team will conduct an initial damage assessment. Team members are the President (Incident Commander), Director of Safety and Security, Director of Physical Plant, and other designated team members. The Incident Commander will notify the Damage Assessment Team when the damage assessment will be conducted. Local authorities will restrict access to the area to those persons with the appropriate authorization including a Lamar State College Orange essential personnel I.D. card.
2. Secondary
   Once facilities are determined to be safe, the Incident Response Team will be notified by members of the EMT that a secondary damage assessment needs to be completed. Each unit should complete a Secondary Damage Assessment Form and submit a copy to the Emergency Management and Business Continuity Plan Coordinator.
   Personnel needed to assist with clean-up of the work areas will be notified by the unit. The President will make a determination as to when it is safe to re-open the campus, and local news media will be notified to make the announcement for faculty, staff, and students to return.
3. Contracts
   Contracts exist for Cotton and Belfor for restorations/remediation services.

Campus-Wide Emergency Recovery Steps