Crisis Management Plan and Response Protocol

___________________________
Robert E. Williamson, CPFE, CIE
Risk Management & Safety Officer

OUTLINE This plan is to be implemented in the event of a major emergency as declared by the President of the college, or another college administrator acting on his behalf. The plan addresses the college's internal response to a broad range of emergencies and events. Specific response activities are included within some sections of the plan. However, a crisis or major disaster will often present circumstances that are dynamic and unpredictable. Therefore, this plan is intended to act as general guide of actions that should be taken by college personnel in response to an identified crisis. It is important to recognize that as a crisis incident unfolds, it is likely that assistance from outside agencies of multiple jurisdictions will be requested. As this assistance arrives, tactical command of those responders will be established in accordance with law, and will not be a function of The Citadel's Crisis Management Team (CMT). The actual Incident Commander (IC) in these cases will typically be either a senior law enforcement officer or senior fire officer on scene, depending upon the nature of the crisis. The operational interface between the Incident Commander (IC) and the college's Crisis Management Team (CMT) will be coordinated via the Event Response Team (ERT) as outlined within other parts of this plan. Adjustments to this plan may become necessary in certain circumstances. The President, or, in his absence, the senior college official present, has the responsibility for evaluating and authorizing adjustments to the implementation of this plan.

 

GOALS OF THE PLAN The goals of this plan are: " To protect the health and safety of the campus population " To protect campus assets " To preserve the college's ability to operate " To establish clear lines of authority and coordination applicable to crisis response. " To centralize and define the procedures to be implemented in response to a crisis event. " To ensure a timely recovery from a crisis event.

 

ACTIVATION OF PLAN The President or designee shall declare a college emergency when an event: " disrupts normal operations of the college or poses a serious threat to persons or property; and " requires a timely response and coordinated, efficient management; and " requires the application of resources beyond the capability of those in the area or facility where the event has occurred; or " results in a declaration of emergency by civil authorities and such declaration includes a likely impact on campus operations.

 

Examples of incidents that may warrant implementation of this plan are: " Serious environmental threats to health and safety: bioterrorism bomb threat hazardous materials communicable disease fire " Incidents of actual or potential harm to individuals: serious accident or injury missing person suicide violent crime " Threat or actual disruption of critical college operations civil disturbance power failure telecommunications service failure widespread data system disruption water supply loss weather-related threat The above list is not exhaustive. Any potential threat to individual safety or to college assets can quickly become a serious emergency if not reported, evaluated, and managed without delay. Each member of the campus community has a responsibility for maintaining an awareness of their surroundings and for staying alert to the development of potential threats. Sound judgment must be used at all times to avoid the unnecessary disruption of college activities; however, no person should delay the report of a concern. Supervisors and campus Public Safety should be immediately informed of such concerns so that further assessment and appropriate response can be initiated without delay. Once notified, supervisors shall report know facts through their chain-of-command. Public Safety shall provide the initial response to investigate reported concerns and determine potential threat. In the event that the responding officer identifies a threat that meets or is likely to meet the criteria listed above under the heading "ACTIVATION OF PLAN", that officer shall initiate notification of college administrators using the following order of precedence: 1. Provost 2. Commandant of Cadets 3. Vice President for Finance & Business 4. Vice President for Communications Current contact Information for these administrators can be found within the college's "KEY PHONE NUMBER LIST" maintained and published by the Office of the President. Upon successful notification of one of the listed officials, or the transfer of that duty to another responsible party, the reporting officer is released from notification duty and will resume duties related to incident response. The first administrative official that receives notification of an incident shall assume the responsibility for making further notifications and preparing for activation of this plan. Once notified of an incident, the Provost or, in the absence of the Provost, the senior official notified, will determine the need for further notifications (including notification of the college President) and whether or not further activation of this Emergency Response and Crisis Management Plan will be recommended.

 

PLAN PRIORITIES The following general objectives have been developed in order to help meet the goals of this plan. Not all listed objectives will apply to every possible situation, but are included here to provide a framework of global priorities to be considered at any incident. Priority I: Ensure Health and Safety Objectives: " Attempt to identify nature and severity of threat and all affected areas or zones. " Establish emergency communications " Assess personal injuries and track status of injured or missing individuals " Evacuate and isolate affected locations pending additional assessment " Identify and rescue persons trapped in damaged facilities " Determine need for assistance from public safety agencies - request as needed " Communicate critical information and instructions to students, faculty and staff, families, and public " Establish medical support " Provide emergency food and shelter as needed Priority II: Protect Campus Buildings, Facilities, Systems of Record Objectives: " Assess facilities " Reinforce, barricade, or secure damaged facilities that pose safety hazards " Shutdown critical utility, data, and telecommunications systems " Rescue critical records, backups and other data, where possible " Determine need for outside assistance and/or expertise - request as needed " Document damages Priority III: Restore Normal Operations Objectives: " Initiate reactivation and restart of shutdown systems " Establish temporary facilities for displaced activities " Normalize delivery of supplies and equipment to campus " Provide psychological and personal assistance to those affected by event " Provide space, equipment, or materials to external agencies, as necessary

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Three (3) operational units are hereby established to address crisis events. It is possible that some events will not require deployment of all 3 units. In such a case, units will be deployed as needed. In general, the organizational structure for responding to a crisis is as follows:

 

Crisis Management Team (CMT) Primary Responsibility The Crisis Management Team coordinates overall campus response, including coordination and communication of follow-up activities. The President or designee will convene the Crisis Management Team when appropriate. Under the direction of the Team Leader, the team will meet regularly during the course of the event. The primary CMT meeting site is Bond 514. Upon activation, the Crisis Management Team will assess the situation, identify resources needed to address the emergency, activate the Emergency Response Team (ERT), issue staff assignments and coordinate appropriate support groups, establish necessary communication with outside agencies, monitor progress and continue assessment, and recommend to the President that the end of the emergency be declared. Departmental units and individual personnel may be directed to suspend routine operations for temporary reassignment to assist in emergency operations. The Crisis Management Team, once convened, should be understood to be acting with the full authority of the President. Team Leader Provost Backup Team Leader Executive Assistant to the President Crisis Management Team - Core Members " Provost " Commandant of Cadets " Vice President for Finance and Business " Vice President for Communications Crisis Management Team - Standby or Alternate Members " Vice President for Facilities and Engineering " Executive Assistant to the President " Special Assistant to the President " General Counsel " Athletics Director " College Physician " Director of Counseling Center " Chaplain

 

Crisis Management Team Responsibilities Provost " Oversees activities and strategies related to crisis " Coordinates roles of support groups through appropriate Vice Presidents " Develops and coordinates contingency plans to provide for continuation of academic operations affected by incident. Vice President for Finance and Business " Substitutes as Crisis Management Team leader if Provost is unavailable " Coordinates activities of Event Response Team (ERT) " Communicates with President, as necessary Vice President for Communications " Coordinates internal and external communications " Monitors media for events in the larger community and disseminates information " Monitors and responds to information requests (internal and external) " Coordinates recording and documentation of response activities. " Serves as or appoints designated spokesperson for the college in instances where the President or Provost do not serve in that role. Commandant of Cadets " Coordinates activities of the Corps of Cadets " Assists Team Leader with coordination of support activities (counseling, infirmary, external support agencies).

 

Event Response Team (ERT) Primary Responsibility Upon activation The Event Response Team responds to the scene of a crisis event or as directed by the CMT Leader. It is this team's role to assess the situation quickly, determine and initiate actions to ensure the immediate safety of persons and property, communicate requests for outside assistance through the CMT, and serve as an interface between the Incident Commander (IC) and the CMT Leader, defined above. Team Leader / Director of Public Safety / Backup Team Leader / Risk Management & Safety Officer Event Response Team Membership " Director of Public Safety " Risk Management & Safety Officer " Director of Physical Plant " Assistant Commandant for Operations Conditional Event Response Team Membership (as warranted by type of crisis) " Infirmary Staff " Counseling Center Staff " Commandant's Staff " Director of Financial Services " Director of Auxiliary Services " Director of Information Technology Services or IT Staff " PPLT Staff Event Response Team Responsibilities Director of Public Safety " Responsible for the overall activities of the Event Response Team " Provides regular reports to the CMT " Assessment and coordination of security and law enforcement related issues " Coordination of on-scene external emergency response units. Risk Management & Safety Officer " Responsible for the overall activities of the Event Response Team in the absence of the Director of Public Safety " Conducts operational risk assessments " Provides technical support and oversight related to site safety, hazard identification and mitigation, protective equipment and actions, and rescue or recovery operations. " Coordinates insurance claims documentation and related activities. Director of Physical Plan " Conducts assessment of affected facilities, utilities and components. " Provides technical support and oversight on structure and systems issues. " Coordinates and directs maintenance and repair teams and other related activities responding to incident. Assistant Commandant for Operations " Coordinates and controls activities of students and cadets at incident scene " Provides support and technical expertise with student, Corps, and related matters. " Assists with coordination of external response units, as necessary.

 

Support Groups / Primary Responsibility The following groups will provide ongoing support and oversight during a crisis and will often play a significant role in recovery. Regular reporting lines to Vice Presidents are to be followed unless otherwise specified. The following is an overview of the area of responsibilities assigned to each support group for all types of events. Specific individual responsibilities may vary greatly depending upon the type of crisis and shall be assigned, as necessary, per event. President's Office: " Assists with passing information to the President from the Event Response Team (ERT) and other involved parties. " Maintains contact with the President if the President is off-campus. " Serves as the primary information control center during the course of the event and is the primary source of clerical support for the Crisis Management Team (CMT). Public Affairs Office and Office of Government Relations: " Sole campus activity authorized to release event related information both internally and externally of the college. " Provides coordination and oversight of all communications activities. " Implements crisis incident communications protocol. Deans and Faculty Members: " Monitor "safe rooms" as established within areas under their control " Provide leadership, guidance and assistance to students and building occupants with evacuations or shelter-in- place response activities. " Implement action to protect critical equipment and/or data, as appropriate. " Maintain a ready posture to perform other duties as may be directed by the Crisis Management Team Information Technology and Media Services: " Secure campus IT facilities and infrastructure where appropriate. " Provide coordination and oversight of data management and equipment protection. " Provide communications support to Public Affairs as necessary. " Initiate protocol to activate remote server and data access in the event that the primary campus IT system or critical host facilities are compromised. Human Resources: " Coordinate personnel recall, work schedules and similar issues. " Assist with the tracking and recording of hours worked by personnel assigned to response. " Provide coordination and assistance with employee benefits. " Maintains a current database containing assigned work locations and telephone numbers of disabled students and employees. " Serves as liaison with Public Safety Department and the Event Response Team to identify and relocate affected disabled students to designated safe areas. Infirmary and Counseling Center: " Provides ongoing crisis intervention support. " Provides on-scene medical assistance and triage of victims. " Provides technical support and coordination of medical or health issues. " Coordinates liaison with public health authorities " Coordinates setup and staffing of temporary morgue facility GENERAL PROVISIONS ( Crisis Management Team Meeting Center ) During the course of a crisis event, the Crisis Management Team will meet in the Bond Hall Training Room (Bond Hall Room 514) on a regular schedule, to be established by the Team Leader, depending on the nature of the event. In the event that Bond Hall 514 is inaccessible or undesirable during a crisis event, the 5th floor conference room of Padgett-Thomas Barracks (Tower) is the designated alternate site. In the event of a campus-wide power failure or another wide-spread incident occurs that renders the primary and alternate sites unusable, the Team will report to the front of the PSAF building at the main gate. Once convened, the team may determine a more suitable location. Notification of Emergency - Specific Location (Indoor Occupants) Where an emergency threatens the occupants of a specific campus building, the affected building's emergency alarm systems will be used for notification of an emergency that requires evacuation. " All primary college buildings are equipped with an emergency alarm system. " The building's emergency alarm system is the most efficient means to rapidly communicate an emergency evacuation order throughout the building. " The emergency alarm systems in all buildings can be triggered in one of three ways: 1. Pull stations located throughout the buildings can be activated manually. 2. Smoke detectors located in corridors, common areas, dormitory rooms, fire panel rooms, and in areas adjacent to elevators will activate the emergency alarm system. 3. Heat sensors in some mechanical spaces will activate the emergency alarm system. The use of manual pull stations is the primary method of activation to be employed. In cases when pull stations are not readily accessible, one of the other methods of system activation will need to be employed. When the emergency alarm system is triggered, all building occupants must exit the building as quickly and as safely as possible. Only stairs and designated emergency egress paths and exits shall be used. Elevators should not be used for emergency evacuation under any circumstances, regardless of how safe they may appear. Building occupants shall refer to posted Emergency Evacuation Plans located throughout all primary campus buildings for specific building or area evacuation information.

 

Outdoor Occupants Where an emergency threatens the occupants of an exterior campus facility or area, notification shall be accomplished using all practical means available, to include: verbal communication between on-site supervisors or activity leaders, electronic communication devices (walkie-talkies, cell phones), and/or event PA systems. In certain instances where Public Safety has responded to an area to advise of a threat, the PSAF vehicle's PA system may be employed to assist. All personnel involved in communicating any notification of a threat and/or evacuation must remain conscious of the need to maintain a calm demeanor and strive to do everything possible to avoid or reduce the spread of panic amongst those who are threatened. When notifying any group of a need for evacuation, specific instructions related to where they should evacuate to and/or what areas or direction of travel to avoid should also be provided, whenever possible. Emergency Alarm/Evacuation Response and Administrative Notification Protocol Senior Ranking Occupant of Building or Area Evacuated " If Public Safety did not initiate the alarm, the senior occupant of the affected area will inform Public Safety that emergency alarm system has been activated, and will provide any know information regarding: nature of incident, current status of evacuation, persons trapped or otherwise unable to evacuate, and any other pertinent information. Public Safety " If not already on-scene, an officer will respond to alarm location; and, once on-scene: will assess the nature and magnitude of the situation, make contact with senior occupant, assist with the evacuation of occupants, and determine need for additional response. The responding officer will attempt to maintain continuous contact with PSAF Dispatch, during response to an incident. " PSAF Dispatch will receive reports from responding officer(s) and will make additional notifications as necessary, and/or as outlined above under the heading "ACTIVATION OF PLAN". If incident warrants further implementation of this plan, once the Crisis Management Team Leader (or another in the "order of precedence") is informed of such, he/she will decide on further response, which may include: a full or partial activation of the Crisis Management Team, notification and deployment of the Event Response Team; and, upon further assessment, notification of the President.

Notification of Emergency - Entire Campus Upon becoming aware of an emergency that poses a potential threat to multiple campus locations, immediately report the emergency to Campus Public Safety at 953-5114 and take action to warn others in your immediate area. Upon receipt of information about an emergency that could pose a threat to the safety of the general campus population, campus Public Safety will immediately act to: 1 Ensure Activation of the Campus-Wide Emergency E-mail Notification System 2. Alert and request Assistance from outside agencies in accordance with applicable standing orders or policy. 3. Alert Crisis Management Team (CMT) Leader or Alternate. 4. Take appropriate action as outlined within any applicable Official College Policy, or departmental Standing Operational Procedure, or other appropriate action as dictated by the circumstances of the incident, good judgment, and common sense. Additional Response and Protocol Response to other types of crisis events will be guided by existing official policies and procedures documents published separately from this plan. All existing response policy documents can be located on the college's official web site: http://www.citadel.edu/hr/orders/. In the case of an incident that is not covered by an existing written policy, the Crisis Response Team Leader is the designated administrator with responsibility and authority to command all aspects of the college's response to such incident.

Crisis Incident Communications Protocol The Citadel's Office of Public Affairs, under the direction of the Vice President for Communications, is the sole campus activity authorized to release event related information both internally and externally of the college. Information related to a crisis event will be disseminated by the Vice President for Communications, or an authorized representative, as follows: 1. Notify appropriate people in staff/administration. 2. Gather all information available on incident. 3. Meet with necessary people to discuss status/ college position. Key people who are included in the meeting will vary depending upon the situation and nature of the problem. 4. Determine the college position and develop a response to query with appropriate approvals including the general counsel. 5. Inform Board of Visitors if media queries received. 6. Consider communications needs of all internal and external constituents and develop messages or talking points that might be appropriate for the following groups: " Cadets " CGS students " Media " Faculty & Staff " Alumni " Parents " Board members of affiliate foundations " Donors/Friends " Prospective Students " Elected officials " Neighborhood Associations, local leaders, etc. 7. Take care to protect the privacy of cadets and CGS students as required by law.

Recovery: Once assured that campus conditions are safe, the Crisis Management Team will focus on returning the campus to normal operations. Depending on the nature of the crisis, the President, through the Vice President for Communications, will provide the campus community with factual information regarding the crisis situation as well as details about recovery activities. In the event that an emergency requires closure of the campus, the college's web-site, www.citadel.edu, will be used to provide up-to-date information on the college's status. Staff and students should not return to campus until the college is officially reopened. All administrators, maintenance and Public Safety personnel should report to work unless otherwise notified. On a case-by-case basis, support group members will be asked to report to work to assist in recovery efforts. In the event of building damage, the recovery process will include a repair and clean-up component led by the Vice President for Facilities and Engineering. If regularly scheduled classes cannot be held due to physical damage, the Provost, with the assistance of Deans, will immediately begin efforts to reschedule classes to other locations. Since these efforts may result in time changes as well, information regarding schedule changes will be posted on the college's web site, www.citadel.edu, and in writing to student and faculty home addresses, if possible. If the crisis situation affects the well being of members of the campus community, the Counseling Centerand Human Resources will provide additional support information and/or services.

Campus-Wide Emergency E-mail Notification The Emergency E-mail will be sent Faculty & Staff Urgent and will be contain the Subject Line: "EMERGENCY ALERT: LOCKDOWN/SHELTER IN PLACE IMMEDIATELY" The body of the e-mail message will read: EMERGENCY ALERT THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS NOT A DRILL WE HAVE A DANGEROUS CAMPUS EMERGENCY THAT CAN POTENTIALLY IMPACT YOUR AREA. STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF & VISITORS: LOCKDOWN NOW! REMAIN CALM AND QUIET IN YOUR LOCKDOWN AREA UNTIL YOU ARE contacted by phone and/or blast e-mail OR by Campus Public Safety or other identifiable college personnel to unlock the door to the room you are in to notify you that the emergency has passed. ALL who receive this e-mail should immediately announce the emergency to those in immediate area and act to secure all offices, classrooms, barracks rooms, shops, and other campus areas without delay. Once secure no area should be opened for any reason until POST-EMERGENCY NOTICE is received.

 

LOCK-DOWN PROCEDURES: 1. Move students and nearby staff/faculty into classrooms or other protected area. 2. Check restrooms and vacant rooms 3 Lock classroom doors with keys if possible. 4 Keep away from doors and windows as possible. 5. Students who are outside should be directed to go to the nearest building by any staff member who can see them. They are to remain there until a POST-EMERGENCY NOTICE signal is given.

 

POST-EMERGENCY NOTICE: Campus Public Safety Will Issue A POST-EMERGENCY E-mail. The E-mail will be sent Faculty & Staff Urgent and will be contain the Subject Line: "ALERT: SECURE FROM EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN" The body of the e-mail message will read: ALERT: THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS NOT A DRILL ALL CAMPUS ACTIVITIES ARE DIRECTED TO SECURE FROM EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN.