Procter Hall Building Emergency Plan

• Emergency Wardens
• Emergency Types and Evacuation Rally Points 
  • Fire 
  • Major Fire Hazards for Procter Hall 
  • Persons with Disabilities 
  • Severe Weather 
  • Shelter in Place 
  • Medical Emergency 
  • Theft 
  • Workplace Violence & Violent Crime 
  • Armed Suspect Threat 
  • Bomb Threats and Suspicious Activities
• Building Hours and Security
• Emergency Text Message
• Emergency Response Teams
  

Procter Hall is comprised of five (5) floors with offices, classrooms, and student areas. The fire alarm panel is located on the 1^st floor off the loading dock, on the south side of the building near the entrance near room 108. The building is monitored by a Simplex fire alarm panel and does have a sprinkler system. The fire alarm panel monitors the fire devices and reports fire alarms to the University Communication Center.  The system is outfitted with an addressable feature and can notify the building occupants that an emergency is occurring. The main stairwells are on the south and north side of the building. The 2^nd floor is ground level with the entrance on the north side of the building. The 3^rd floor has two sets of stairs on the south and north sides of the building which lead to the ground floor (2^nd floor). The College of Nursing designated Areas of Rescue assistance are in stairwell C, on levels 300 and 400 with phones that have direct communication with the 9-1-1 dispatcher.  The 5^th floor is only accessible by the south stairwell.  The 5^th floor has no offices or classrooms.  It houses large panels for the building heating/ventilation system and has access to the roof.

Emergency Wardens are required for each area. These individuals (or their designated backup) will be responsible for making sure each area is evacuated in the event the emergency alarm system or severe weather alert is activated on their way out of the building. Emergency Wardens will not delay their egress out of the building or to a safe location ensuring occupants have evacuated. They are also responsible to account for the departmental employees and visitors in their area who assemble at the designated rally points after evacuating the building or relocating to a safe zone. New employees will receive a copy of this Building Emergency Policies and Procedures Manual in their New Employee Orientation.  The current Emergency Wardens are listed below:

In the event that a fire alarm sounds, all persons are required under state law, to evacuate the building immediately. Failure to evacuate is a criminal offense. Persons in charge of a facility (including faculty teaching class) are also responsible for evacuating their area, and may be held personally liable for a failure to evacuate. Once a fire alarm has sounded, do not re-enter a building until the all clear message has been given by emergency personnel.  Any fire alarm that sounds must be treated as an actual alarm unless prior notice is given of the testing. When evacuating, take your personal belongings with you, and secure your office as you leave.

In the event of a fire or fire alarm, the employee should take the following actions:

• Instruct others to immediately exit the building via the nearest stairwell
• DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS
• Exit the space, verifying all students have left. Employees shall not attempt to extinguish a fire unless specifically trained.
• Pull the fire alarm (located at each stairwell and main entrances)
• If possible, call 9-1-1 from a phone located a safe distance away from the building, to report the exact location of the fire
• Exit the building and await the fire department
• Do not re-enter until you receive the all clear message from Public Safety

Occupants should take the nearest useable stairwell to the exit level out of the building to the lobby level and exit the building. The assembly location is The Fountain in Kingsgate Commons. Assemble with your department or class.

Fire Wardens will walk through their areas on the way to the exit to make sure everyone has evacuated.  Report any missing employees or visitors with their last location seen, to the nearest emergency personnel.

Await further instructions from UC Public Safety and/or Cincinnati Fire Department.

There are not any major fire hazards in Procter Hall. No chemicals are stored in this building.

Public Safety guidelines permit individuals with disabilities the option of staying in the building during an emergency situation if they are non-ambulatory, or where elevator assistance is essential for their evacuation, and they are located either above or below the ground floor. A non-disabled person should stay with the disabled to assist if necessary. Detailed instructions are available by visiting University of Cincinnati Fire Prevention’s website at http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/publicsafety/docs/EvacuationforPersonswithdisabilities.pdf

Areas of Rescue assistance are in stairwell C, levels 300 and 400 with phones that have direct communication with the 9-1-1 dispatcher.

The individual, or a person designated to be with them should:

• If on ground floor, exit the building as usual.
  
• If above, or below ground, seek a safe place- preferably a designated area of rescue or a room with an exterior window, a telephone, and a solid door.
• Telephone Emergency Dispatch (9-1-1) and advise them you are a person with a physical disability. Give your exact location – Building, Floor and Room number and the phone number you are calling from.
• The Fire Department will determine if evacuation of these occupants is necessary.

If severe weather is detected (severe thunderstorms, tornadoes etc.) the campus severe weather warning system will sound, instructing all occupants to:

• Evacuate your area using either stairwell. Elevators may only be used by individuals with disabilities.
• Severe weather safety locations for Procter Hall are noted as the basement corridor, between North stairwell and old tunnel area, Room 103 (Auditorium), and the stairwells away from the doors and windows. The first floor public restrooms may also be used as a shelter if they do not contain windows.

A severe thunderstorm WATCH indicates that conditions are favorable for the formation of a thunderstorm of 58 mph or greater. Hail with a diameter of ¾” or more may also be present. A severe thunderstorm WARNING is issued when severe thunderstorms have developed in the area. Shelter should be sought indoors, away from windows.

A tornado WATCH indicates that weather conditions are such that tornadoes can develop, as well as implying that thunderstorm activity may be severe. A tornado WARNING indicates that a tornado has actually been sighted in the reporting area.

Immediate shelter should be taken in the lowest interior area of a building. Avoid long span roof areas (auditoriums and gymnasiums) and areas with large amounts of glass.

The Hamilton County warning sirens use a steady tone to indicate a severe weather warning, and is tested on the first Wednesday of each month at 12 noon; unless there is threat of severe weather.

Should a severe weather WARNING be issued, employees should instruct occupants to move to the severe weather shelter area of the buildings. In some cases (classrooms on lower levels with no exterior windows) it may not be necessary for the class to move. 

Several potential emergency situations that release hazardous materials into the air may result in local government issuing a “Shelter In Place” warning. These situations include chemical spills, fires, and chemical/biological attacks. Shelter in place means taking refuge inside a building and isolation yourself as much as possible from the outside air.

When a shelter in place warning is issued that affects the University of Cincinnati, an announcement will be made over the campus warning system. The following steps should be taken upon hearing the shelter in place warning:

• Close outside windows and doors
• Turn off individual window air conditioners/fan units
• Remain indoor and await further instructions or the all clear message

Employees shall stay in their shelter in place location until the emergency is over, or until other instructions are given.

In the event of a medical emergency, assistance can be summoned by calling 9-1-1. The UC 9-1-1 dispatcher will send emergency medical assistance as needed.  Calling 911 from a UC landline will get you directly to the UC Communications Center.  Calling 911 from a cell phone will get City of Cincinnati dispatcher.  When using a cell phone, make sure to inform the dispatcher you are on UC’s campus.  Be sure to specify exactly where in the building the patient is located and if possible send someone to meet the paramedics at the main entrance.

In the event that anyone is the victim of a theft (or other non violent crime) contact the UC Police department at 556-1111.

In the event that a violent event was to occur elsewhere in a building while working, employees should lock the office door and move the employees out of the line of view of the door. Contact the police by calling 9-1-1 from a campus phone or 556-6111 from a cellular phone. Police personnel will provide further instructions on the building public address system.

Should a violent event occur in an office space, if the suspect has fled, follow the same steps as above. If the suspect is still present, attempt to evacuate the students from the room. Call 9-1-1 as soon as possible. Be aware that 9-1-1 calls from campus phones are automatically identified, so if you cannot talk, police officers will be sent to investigate. At the present time, there is no method of identifying where a cellular phone call is made, so you must be able to identify where you are for assistance to be sent to your location.  

In the case of an armed suspect, the appropriate response to this will be to secure themselves in their room. If the room you are in cannot be locked, you may need to barricade the door, or seek a better location. If the armed suspect is inside a building and you can flee the building, that may be your best course of action.  There is no single course of action that fits all situations, and you will need to determine your best option. Unlike in K-12 education, the University does not have a “lockdown” policy. K-12 students are juveniles, and directly under the control of a teacher during the entire course of the day. Here at the University, students are adults, and engaged in a wide variety of activities across the campus during the day.

If you should receive a bomb threat, a suspicious package, or locate a suspicious item, contact the Police Department immediately by calling 9-1-1 on a campus phone. DO NOT USE A CELL PHONE!!

If you receive a bomb threat write down exactly what is said as soon as possible. If you have a display phone, note the number that the call was received from.

If you receive a suspicious package or locate a suspicious item, do not move or open the item. Clear everyone away from the immediate area and lock the area. Meet the responding police officers outside.

Procter Hall is open to the public from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Afterhours access is restricted to those with faculty and staff with current ID badges.

As part of a comprehensive effort to inform our community of any emergencies that might arise on campus, the University of Cincinnati offers an emergency text messaging service. This service is a partnership between UC Public Safety and UCIT.

All cell-phone numbers provided to the university will automatically be subscribed to the University of Cincinnati emergency text-message system. In the event of a campus emergency, UC Public Safety will send a text message to all faculty, staff and students who have not specifically declined to accept such messages by opting out of this service through OneStop and Directory Services:

Faculty and staff may decline to accept emergency text notifications from UC Public Safety by updating their directory listings. You may review and update your directory listing here: https://ucdirectory.uc.edu/updates/clslogin.asp

UC Public Safety will use the system at their discretion if there is an imminent threat to the safety and security of the campus community or to announce a weather-related university closing. For example, text-messages would strongly direct you to take immediate action to avoid injury from a natural disaster; tornado, blizzard, or chemical spill. In the event of an active shooting that targets a person without provocation on or around campus, an emergency text-message would be sent to the entire campus community. Alerts regarding a criminal act off campus would not be subject to an emergency text message, however, a timely warning as described by the Jeanne Clery Act may be distributed over various Campus Safety communications platforms.

Procter Hall is served by the following organizations:

University Police (556-1111),
Cincinnati Fire Department 911
Environmental Health and Safety (556-1968)
University Health Services and Facilities Management