Emergency Procedures - Vancouver Campus
No-one can predict disasters such as earthquakes, terrorism, fires, or hazardous material accidents. The list is endless. However, when these things happen, you must be ready to act immediately. To help you survive, you and members of your household should prepare personal and family survival plans NOW! At the office, everyone should have a Grab and Go Kit under their desk.
Preparing for a disaster takes time and effort. You need to plan so that you can:
- avoid injury and help others
- minimize damage to your property
- survive at least 72 hours after a disaster in your home or workplace without help from emergency response officials. Note that in a disaster such as a region-wide earthquake, it may be several days before emergency response officials can reach you.
For your Individual and Neighbourhood All-Hazard Emergency Preparedness Workbook and more information on emergency preparedness, see SFU's Environment Health and Safety website.
Earthquake Procedures
- In case of an earthquake:
- duck into nearest alcove or under heavy furniture
- cover your head, neck and torso as best you can
- hold on to whatever is sheltering you
- move away from overhead hazards
- After an earthquake:
- do not exit the building until safe to do so
- do not use elevators
- listen to portable radio for updates
- stay calm and use common sense
- cooperate with emergency officials
Serious Incident
In the event of a serious incident on the Vancouver campus, users should contact campus security on the Emergency line 25252. This will initiate two levels of response:
- Primary incident response and management by Concord Security at the Vancouver campus.
- Tactical critical incident response provided through Vancouver Police Department.
The tactical response is coordinated to facilitate evacuation of those in the threat area and to isolate the threat immediately and will be managed by the Vancouver Police Department with our cooperation.
Basically, you need to use common sense. The simplest advice is to stay in your classroom or office and lock the door, if possible, until instructed to do otherwise. Most of our classrooms have a house phone connected to Security. Use the 5252 Emergency number cited on the faceplate.Personal Pandemic Planning
A pandemic is defined as an epidemic of a contagious disease that has been spread over a country or around the world.
The university is currently developing a plan for pandemics, as well as other infectious diseases. However, there are things that each person can do in the meantime.
Ways to reduce the impact of an influenza pandemic at home
In addition to the obvious safeguards such as washing your hands frequently, covering your cough and getting your flu vaccine, you could also follow some of these helpful tips.
Clean surfaces that could transfer germs (especially during an illness) such as:
- door knobs
- toys
- light switches
- telephones
If you have a fever and cough minimize your contact with others and:
- cough or sneeze in a tissue, dispose of it carefully, then clean your hands either with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- call your doctor or a health service for advice.
- if a family member has a fever and cough don't share:
- food
- towels
- toothbrush (or holder)
- any other items that could transfer germs
- Remain at least 1 metre away as much as possible.
- Clean your hands before eating, after coughing or sneezing or after helping your child blow his/her nose.
- Call a doctor or a health service for advice if needed.