An emergency is any unplanned event that can cause deaths or significant injuries to employees, customers, visitors, students or the general public at large; or that can shut down facility operations, disrupt standard daily operations, cause physical or environmental damage, or threaten the facility’s financial standing or public image.
What are some events that can create or lend itself to an emergency?
- Fire
- Hazardous materials incident
- Flood or flash flood
- Hurricane
- Tornado
- Winter storm
- Earthquake
- Communications failure
- Utility failure
- Radiological failure
- Chemical spill
- Civil disturbance
- Explosion
We should refrain from using the term “disaster” in the process of preparing this Emergency Preparedness Plan and the production of the final plan document. The term “disaster” lends itself to a preconceived notion of a large-scale event. We normally frame this as a “natural disaster”. In fact, each event must be addressed within the context of the impact it has on this building while remaining in the framework of more comprehensive plans on the University, City/County or regional level. What might constitute a nuisance to a larger area may well be a “disaster” to the Cunningham Center.
