Hurricane Campus Safety and Security
When a storm develops into a hurricane, you will want to be sure your campus is safe and secure with a campus hurricane safety plan. Campuses are likely to close in order to keep everyone as safe as possible. When it’s clear that a hurricane is imminent, it’s time to take action.
Securing and insuring your campus before a hurricane
Securing and insuring your campus during a large scale storm:
- Determine how best to protect yourself from high winds and flooding.
- Relocate to a designated storm shelter or an interior room for high winds.
- Evacuate if told to do so.
- Only use generators outdoors and away from windows.
- Listen for emergency information and alerts.
Securing and insuring your campus after a large scale storm:
- Assemble in a calm manner in a safe location away from power lines and puddles containing power lines, emergency traffic areas, broken glass, sharp debris, and any other hazards.
- Keep everyone away from damaged areas of the school as the building may collapse.
- Carefully render aid to those who are injured.
- Ensure no one uses matches, lighters, or other flammable materials in case of nearby fuel tanks or leaking natural gas pipes.
Securing and insuring your campus with IDentifyED:
1Unlike many natural disasters or campus events, your organization has time to prepare for a hurricane. So, you as an IDentifyED user have time to prepare as well.
2Typically, you will be asked to return home, campus may be closed, events will be canceled or you will be asked to evacuate or be sent to a hurricane shelter. If you live on campus, you may be asked to stay at your facility if it is a hurricane shelter.
3Your campus has the ability to change IDentifyED’s help request so that before a hurricane they can activate specific help requests that might help you with evacuation or emergency supplies, so if you need help check the help request.
4The campus can also, modify the custom campus app (swipe left) and put in buttons that will direct you to helpful services, like shelter locations, locations for supplies, weather reports and other emergency services.
5A hurricanes status and direction can change quickly, so be prepared to make alternative plans if the paths direction or the storms intensity changes.
6Swipe up on your IDentifyED app to find your campus hurricane safety procedure.
7Hurricanes may affect only a small area or a large community. The IDentifyED system has integration into the I Love U Guys Foundation’s standard response procedures, these procedures will tell people how you need to respond and reduce panic during a hurricane or your organization may supply special instructions, either way please read them.
8If you need help use the IDentifyED 911 feature on the help request this will direct you to specific response personnel on IDentifyED and explain to the dispatcher the issue. Campus organization resources might be the best place to call for help on your campus. If for any reason you are not able to get in touch with campus resources, do not hesitate to dial 911 on your phone app.
9Emergency personnel during a hurricane with IDentifyED can also involve or escalate to additional personnel as well as any emergency responders when following the campus hurricane safety procedure.
10Emergency responders will also maintain and update critical event message boards about the hurricane, that will allow everyone in the campus to get the most critical and up-to-date information.
11If you need help or others need help during the hurricane, you can make additional help requests that might document additional assistance and additional people who might be injured during the hurricane.
12Sharing your location via a check-in (push your picture on the ID), is a great idea to share your location with friends, family, the school and emergency services. Your organization may add locations like shelters so that you can be very specific as to where you are. This is important because if you need help, you want to tell emergency responders the most detailed information about your location.
13If you check-in, and then need help — emergency responders will be able to respond to your specific location with much better detail. For example, during a hurricane it is possible that you are on the 20th floor in room 2001 of a 20-story building. If you need assistance, your IDentifyED reported longitude and latitude will only tell the responders what building you are in, a good check-in will help them narrow it down the floor and room, so that they can find you.
14If you are handicapped and need help during a hurricane, in some cases the elevators may be disabled or there is a power outage. Make a handicapped help request with your specific checked in location (many campuses have designated handicapped assistance areas for you to check into.)
15Once the Hurricane is not a threat — emergency personnel will either broadcast out an all clear or begin reunification procedures.
16If an all clear is sent during a hurricane assume that there will be additional information that may need to be shared, stay sheltered until you are able to get assurance that it is safe.
17It is best if you resist the temptation to venture out after a hurricane so emergency responder are able to render assistance to those people who really need help.
18If you do venture outside be careful as there may be damaged buildings, down trees, live electric wires and other dangers. If you witness any issue report them with IDentifyED as unsafe conditions, or maintenance issue or whatever is applicable in your organization. If you can provide pictures and text that is often times helpful to emergency responders and repair crews. Do not put yourself in danger. Professionals will respond and help in every case.
19After a hurricane please report any and all personal injury or other issues through IDentifyED.
20After a hurricane please report any damage to property or safety concerns via the IDentifyED Help request.
21For schools with a reunification process; If a reunification process is called for after a hurricane, monitor the IDentifyED critical event message boards as well as all emergency broadcasts.
22For schools with a reunification process; Follow the instructions from emergency responders.
23For schools with a reunification process; During a hurricane reunification you should be told where to report to. It is possible that traditional/anticipated buildings or rally points are not safe to shelter or meet at so it is important to listen to and follow the directions of emergency responders.
24For schools with a reunification process; When arriving at a reunification area, make certain you check-in or are checked in to that location.
25For schools with a reunification process; If this is a school that involves parents. Parents should follow reunification procedures during a hurricane reunification. Parents should be instructed as to what will occur by school personnel please follow the directions you are being given.
26After a hurricane, you may experience power outages and damage that may result in the campus or certain facilities being closed. IDentifyED is housed offsite from your campus so IDentifyED should remain online during any and all emergencies. As long as you can get to internet services you should be able to get to IDentifyED. For this reason, during an emergency it is very likely that IDentifyED will be your campuses best means to communicate.
27Continue to monitor IDentifyED emergency broadcasts, news and alerts as well as critical event boards after the Hurricane because organizations will need to update you on when campus access will resume and any other additional information.
28After a hurricane, IDentifyed may also be used to update calendars work and any group or department activities in terms of events, deadlines or assignments/projects, look for these updates on IDentifyED first in order to minimize and optimize communications. It is likely that many parties including leadership, staff and others will update calendars, message boards, send messages and provide additional updates via a message, chat, message board or portfolio.
29IDentifyED’s has many communication resources like user portfolios, messaging, message boards, calendars, chat, group chat, emergency broadcast, school-wide news and alerts will all be used during and after a hurricane. So, monitor IDentifyED and use IDentifyED as your primary source of information.