UCSF Prepares for the Worst in Aftermath of VA Tech Tragedy
By Christopher Jones
A recent University of California report put the tragedy at Virginia Tech into perspective.
"There is no greater priority for the University of California system than the safety and security of students, faculty, staff and visitors," it reads. "The impact of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech that occurred on April 16, 2007 continues to be felt across the nation and has altered our collective awareness of the adequacy of security at the nation's institutions of higher education. This awareness is grounded in the universal understanding that, given a different conjunction of circumstances, what happened at Virginia Tech that day could have happened elsewhere, including at the University of California."
With those words, UC embarked upon a mission to safeguard the students, faculty, staff and visitors among its 10 campuses. For its part, UCSF recognized that it faced myriad challenges to rapidly delivering an emergency notification of a violent intruder, such as an active shooter, on campus. UCSF is atypical of university campus settings in that it is spread out over the City and County of San Francisco in five major concentrations and hundreds of geographically dispersed, leased spaces. UCSF has older buildings which pose structural and technological impediments to the delivery of web, cell phone and wireless text messaging. Last year, Senior Vice Chancellor Steve Barclay commissioned staff to assess UCSF's capabilities to respond to and provide timely mass notification of an emergency under an "active shooter" scenario. A comprehensive emergency communications committee was created and co-chaired by Associate Vice Chancellors Randy Lopez and Steve Wiesenthal, who has since left UCSF. The committee comprised representatives of UCSF Police, Capital Programs and Facilities Management, Public Affairs, Office of Research and UCSF Medical Center. The committee reviewed an active shooter test scenario as a means to evaluate gaps in existing UCSF mass communication capabilities, including protocol, infrastructure and operations; researched potential solutions to resolve gaps; and made recommendations for specific improvements to strengthen the communication capabilities related to an active shooter event response and management. Based upon these assessments, UCSF Police Chief Pamela Roskowski submitted a comprehensive emergency communications proposal to Barclay on Feb. 25. Timing of this proposal has come when the state and University of California face budget reductions resulting in part from the economic downturn facing the nation. Safety a Priority To the credit of Barclay, Lopez and Wiesenthal, who view the safety of UCSF staff, faculty and students as a priority, funding was recently approved for the UCSF Police Department's Homeland Security Emergency Management Program to develop a mass notification system. This system would enable the UCSF Police Department to issue an emergency warning to staff, faculty and students via an unlimited number of email, phone, cell phone, text messaging, pagers or other UCSF or personal communication devices available to the campus community. Students, faculty and staff will be able to provide the mass notification system with the numbers of as many personal contact devices as they wish to ensure the greatest chance of receiving an emergency warning. Additionally, the proposal calls for the purchase and installation of 33 electronic visual display boards to be placed in strategic locations at UCSF, including Parnassus, Laurel Heights, Mission Bay, Mission Center, Mount Zion and the medical center, and the installation of additional boards in future years. The goal of the mass notification system is to be able to send an emergency notification via email, voice, web, public address, alarm, and electronic display boards within minutes of a threat or emergency. This will be a major undertaking requiring the collaboration of UCSF stakeholders representing telecommunications, IT, Human Resources, legal, facilities, purchasing, medical center, students, faculty and administration, among many others. At the same time, the UCSF Police Department has been receiving training and is preparing for an exercise to respond rapidly to an active shooter incident. The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Program has also undertaken a major effort to increase University compliance in the development or updating of campus emergency action plans to ensure that employees can safely evacuate or escape from buildings. Over the next year, UCSF will be engaged in a number of emergency preparedness projects to enhance communication about and create systems to prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from emergencies. For more information on UCSF emergency preparedness, visit http://www.police.ucsf.edu/emergency.htm. Christopher Jones is associate director Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the UCSF Police Department. Related Links: The Report of the University of California Campus Security Task Force
(PDF) UC Regents to Discuss Student Mental Health and Campus Security at Upcoming Meeting
UCSF Today, March 13, 2008 Emergency Response Expert Joins UCSF Police Department
UCSF Today, Oct. 15, 2007
A recent University of California report put the tragedy at Virginia Tech into perspective.
"There is no greater priority for the University of California system than the safety and security of students, faculty, staff and visitors," it reads. "The impact of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech that occurred on April 16, 2007 continues to be felt across the nation and has altered our collective awareness of the adequacy of security at the nation's institutions of higher education. This awareness is grounded in the universal understanding that, given a different conjunction of circumstances, what happened at Virginia Tech that day could have happened elsewhere, including at the University of California."
With those words, UC embarked upon a mission to safeguard the students, faculty, staff and visitors among its 10 campuses. For its part, UCSF recognized that it faced myriad challenges to rapidly delivering an emergency notification of a violent intruder, such as an active shooter, on campus. UCSF is atypical of university campus settings in that it is spread out over the City and County of San Francisco in five major concentrations and hundreds of geographically dispersed, leased spaces. UCSF has older buildings which pose structural and technological impediments to the delivery of web, cell phone and wireless text messaging. Last year, Senior Vice Chancellor Steve Barclay commissioned staff to assess UCSF's capabilities to respond to and provide timely mass notification of an emergency under an "active shooter" scenario. A comprehensive emergency communications committee was created and co-chaired by Associate Vice Chancellors Randy Lopez and Steve Wiesenthal, who has since left UCSF. The committee comprised representatives of UCSF Police, Capital Programs and Facilities Management, Public Affairs, Office of Research and UCSF Medical Center. The committee reviewed an active shooter test scenario as a means to evaluate gaps in existing UCSF mass communication capabilities, including protocol, infrastructure and operations; researched potential solutions to resolve gaps; and made recommendations for specific improvements to strengthen the communication capabilities related to an active shooter event response and management. Based upon these assessments, UCSF Police Chief Pamela Roskowski submitted a comprehensive emergency communications proposal to Barclay on Feb. 25. Timing of this proposal has come when the state and University of California face budget reductions resulting in part from the economic downturn facing the nation. Safety a Priority To the credit of Barclay, Lopez and Wiesenthal, who view the safety of UCSF staff, faculty and students as a priority, funding was recently approved for the UCSF Police Department's Homeland Security Emergency Management Program to develop a mass notification system. This system would enable the UCSF Police Department to issue an emergency warning to staff, faculty and students via an unlimited number of email, phone, cell phone, text messaging, pagers or other UCSF or personal communication devices available to the campus community. Students, faculty and staff will be able to provide the mass notification system with the numbers of as many personal contact devices as they wish to ensure the greatest chance of receiving an emergency warning. Additionally, the proposal calls for the purchase and installation of 33 electronic visual display boards to be placed in strategic locations at UCSF, including Parnassus, Laurel Heights, Mission Bay, Mission Center, Mount Zion and the medical center, and the installation of additional boards in future years. The goal of the mass notification system is to be able to send an emergency notification via email, voice, web, public address, alarm, and electronic display boards within minutes of a threat or emergency. This will be a major undertaking requiring the collaboration of UCSF stakeholders representing telecommunications, IT, Human Resources, legal, facilities, purchasing, medical center, students, faculty and administration, among many others. At the same time, the UCSF Police Department has been receiving training and is preparing for an exercise to respond rapidly to an active shooter incident. The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Program has also undertaken a major effort to increase University compliance in the development or updating of campus emergency action plans to ensure that employees can safely evacuate or escape from buildings. Over the next year, UCSF will be engaged in a number of emergency preparedness projects to enhance communication about and create systems to prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from emergencies. For more information on UCSF emergency preparedness, visit http://www.police.ucsf.edu/emergency.htm. Christopher Jones is associate director Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the UCSF Police Department. Related Links: The Report of the University of California Campus Security Task Force
(PDF) UC Regents to Discuss Student Mental Health and Campus Security at Upcoming Meeting
UCSF Today, March 13, 2008 Emergency Response Expert Joins UCSF Police Department
UCSF Today, Oct. 15, 2007