UT Dallas > Institutional Risk & Safety > Emergency Preparedness & Response Programs > Emergency Management > Emergency Planning

Emergency Planning

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During an Emergency

  • Call 911 or the UTD Police at 972-883-2222. Do not assume someone else has called.
  • Follow instructions provided to you via UTDAlert and Public Safety officials.
  • Try to remain calm and give clear instructions to help students quickly and quietly assist in responding to the emergency.
  • Use your judgment when determining the course of action.

UTDAlert

If you ask your students to turn off their phones during class, make sure that at least yours is accessible to receive UTDAlert messages.

Classroom Preparedness

Faculty and Teaching Assistants (TAs) should have a plan for emergencies and be ready to implement it at any time. Your students will look to you for leadership and advice. Share your plan with your students at least once, preferably at the beginning of the semester.

  • Have a list of all students in the class.
  • Identify emergency exits, evacuation routes, meeting locations, and shelter-in-place locations and make them known to all who work in the lab. Always evacuate during fire alarms.
  • Identify a meeting location near the building and account for all evacuated occupants. Report anyone who is missing to public safety officials as soon as possible.
  • For a dangerous situation that requires you to get far away quickly —e.g., an active shooter— identify a second meeting location that is far from the building. You can also instruct students to scatter or return to their colleges, schools, or home.
  • Advise students who need assistance evacuating-whether they have a permanent or temporary special need-to review the Special Needs Guidelines and develop an emergency plan.
  • Explain shelter-in-place procedures at least once during the semester.
  • If your classroom is not a good place to shelter in place, identify other more suitable spaces nearby.

Laboratory Preparedness

Faculty, Teaching Assistants (TAs), PIs, and lab managers should have a plan for emergencies and be ready to implement it at any time. Your students or employees will look to you for leadership and advice. Share your plan with them at least once, preferably at the beginning of the semester.

  • Have a list of all who work in the lab (students, faculty, staff).
  • Identify emergency exits, evacuation routes, meeting locations, shelter-in-place locations, and make them known to all who work in the lab.
  • Have procedures in place to ensure that researchers and lab employees can leave at a moment’s notice.
  • Never remain in your lab during a fire alarm or any emergency that requires immediate evacuation.
  • People working in labs should keep their phone ringers “on” so that they can receive UTDAlert notifications. If that is not possible, lab managers and PIs need to determine how others in the lab will receive emergency notifications.
  • Develop a shelter-in-place procedure. Look to see how you can lock and secure your lab. If it is not a good place to shelter in place, identify other more suitable spaces nearby.
  • If the lab covers multiple spaces, develop a plan for each location and determine the best way to communicate during an emergency. Having a group text or group e-mail prepared in advance is helpful for sending messages to your lab.
  • If possible given the situation and life safety, turn off any open flames or hot plates after securing the lab. Immediately proceed to the designated evacuation or shelter-in-place location within the lab or other identified location in your plan.

Continuity Planning and Recovery Guide for Laboratories and Research Facilities

Department Safety and Emergency Plan

The Department Safety and Emergency Plan includes information on emergency notification, evacuation, sheltering, and lockdown. It is highly recommended that each department on campus completes a Department Safety and Emergency Plan and distributes the plan within the department. Once the plan has been completed internally, please send it to oemcp@utdallas.edu. 

Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

Emergency Management maintains a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) that meets local, state, and federal standards. The CEMP describes the protocols, resources, response partners, and organizational structure to sustain an all-hazards approach and response on campus. The CEMP is designed to obtain the swiftest, specialized emergency assistance for the protection of life and property at all UT Dallas campuses. The effectiveness of emergency and disaster response plans depends on high skill levels among all those who will execute the plans. This requires training and exercise, both within the University community and with external response partners.

Training

UT Dallas voluntarily complies with federal standards of responder training. Emergency Management provides essential personnel with specialized training that encompasses their emergency response roles and responsibilities.

Training certificates must be sent to oemcp@utdallas.edu.

Exercising

Emergency Management tests the CEMP and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) in three ways—

  • Drills: Emergency Management provides support in fire drills every week. Fire drills are on a rotating schedule and each building will be tested at least once a year.
  • Exercises: Exercises test the Emergency Management team with internal and external stakeholders and identifies gaps and lessons learned in the plan. Once the exercise is over, the plan is reviewed and edited to reflect any issues or resolutions that may have occurred in the specific exercise.
  • Actual Events: When an unplanned incident such as severe weather or power outages occur, Emergency Management is activated and essential personnel are tested by the way they respond to the incident.

All Exercises and drills must be coordinated with Emergency Management.

Departments that would like to conduct an emergency exercise for their area, should contact Emergency Management for development and approval of exercise materials.

Continuity Planning Tabletop Exercise

A Continuity Planning Tabletop Exercise is used to clarify roles and responsibilities, test continuity plans and procedures, and identify additional business continuity needs that may arise after a disruptive event occurs on campus. To ensure that departments are prepared for such disruptive events, Emergency Management has developed an online Continuity Planning Tabletop Exercise. This exercise poses scenarios to departments that test different sections of their developed continuity plans. Please contact Emergency Management at oemcp@utdallas.edu if you are interested in participating in this exercise or meeting to develop a continuity plan.