Break Is a Good Time to Think of Emergency Preparedness
Several times a year, I try to remind parents of the procedures we have in place in the event of some sort of crisis on campus. One of my fine colleagues on the Crisis Management Team has some good language around what we do at Wake Forest, and what parents should know. It is provided below.
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For many years, Wake Forest has had a Crisis Management Team (CMT) comprised of representatives from a wide range of University offices. The CMT meets off and on through each year for training and other purposes, either in its entirety or in smaller groups. It is important for parents and families to understand what would happen if there was a campus crisis. We have a Wake Ready web site, which provides information on emergency preparedness.
On the Wake Ready website, at the left hand side is a list of menu items that are linked to pages with greater detail on what alert methods are used, building evacuation procedures, etc. We urge all Wake Forest families to read through this web site carefully and to make sure your students do as well.
The name used the for the University’s entire emergency communication system is Wake Alert. It refers to all means that may be used to communicate with the campus, depending on the situation. These methods include the Wake Alert web site, a banner at the top of the University home page and many other Wake Forest pages (including the Parents home page), an outdoor alert system, a cable TV alert system, an indoor alert system in many buildings (but not all), e-mail, voice mail (University offices), and the University weather/emergency phone line (336-758-5935). Social media can be used, too, including the Wake Alert Twitter account. The University would also keep news media up to date, regularly.
In situations of imminent danger to campus, a text message would be sent to the campus community directing all to follow the Wake Alert web site for details and updates. We do not text message or e-mail parents. Our first concern is the safety of those on campus.
At Wake Forest, all campus community members are encouraged to follow the Wake Alert site for alerts and updates in situations threatening imminent danger to the campus. It is the primary go-to source for alerts and updates. All means used to communicate in such situations will refer people to the Wake Alert web site.
The Wake Alert web site may be used for less threatening situations, on occasion. For instance, the University uses the site each year to announce weather-related closings and delays on campus.
The University, in less threatening situations, often depends on other means to communicate, such as e-mail and social media.
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