Emergency Plan

Appendix 3: Emergency Communications and Notification

A. SDSU EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

The Director of Public Safety has the primary responsibility to promptly notify the campus community when warranted by an emergency situation.

Notification of the campus community will normally be accomplished through the Public Safety Dispatch Center. It will involve a warning that an emergency exists and the issuance of appropriate instructions.

The Public Safety Communications Center is the primary point on campus for receipt of warnings from local and state officials.

In an emergency such as earthquake, flood, or power outage, people may experience confusion and anxiety about what has happened or is happening. SDSU emergency communications procedures include the following:

• In an emergency, the university is committed to providing official emergency information as quickly as the situation allows.
  
  
• In the first few minutes after an emergency, official information will likely be unavailable and phone service may be interrupted.
  
  
• The best source of information will be the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Public Safety, located in DPS Building. The EOC Public Information Officer will provide accurate and current information for dissemination to faculty, staff, students, and the public.
  
  
• In the event of an emergency, the university will communicate information via the following, as possible:
  • Phone trees
  • KPBS TV and radio and local media sources (the three AM stations in San Diego required to broadcast emergency information are KOGO/AM 600, KPOP/AM 1360, and KSDO/AM 1130)
  • Emergency Information Line: 1-866-794-8832
  • E-mail
  • BFA Web site
  • I-8 message board
  • Public Safety vehicle public address system
  • Police, Parking, and Physical Plant portable radios
  • Campus telephone voicemail system
  • Communicator reverse 9-1-1 system
  • University satellite phone
  • Campus mobile message sign
    
    
• In the event of a campus closure during the SDSU Children’s Center hours of operation, parents will be notified directly. The Center’s main telephone number, 619-594-7941, will remain open for parent calls until all children have been picked up. For more information see http://as.sdsu.edu/child/new/index.html.

B. PHONE TREES

• When phone systems are operational, an effective way of providing emergency information to a large number of people is through the use of phone trees. The university needs your help and requests that each department, division, and college develop and use a phone tree to communicate information in an emergency. Administrators, managers, and supervisors should use the phone tree to notify their staff or faculty as necessary.
  
  
• A simple organizational chart format works well. Divide the department, division, or college into small groups (preferably no more than 10) with one person designated as the primary caller for the group. Designate an alternate primary caller as well. Primary callers should keep their phone tree available at all times in case they happen to be off campus at the time of the emergency.
• Phone tree information should include work phone, home phone, cellular phone, and pager numbers.
  
  
• Depending on the nature of the incident, if the phone system is operational, and when safe, the primary caller will activate his/her phone tree. The primary caller should ensure only confirmed information is relayed to people on their list. The primary caller should update the people on their list as new information is obtained.
  
  
• Phone trees should be provided to the responsible persons in each department, division, or college as well as the Public Safety Emergency Management coordinator.
  
  
• Phone trees will be checked and updated each January and July and redistributed.
  
  
• Phone trees will be kept confidential.