Campus Emergency Training

In order to improve our campus’ ability to respond to an emergency, our building-specific evacuation teams are being replaced by a broader, campus-wide emergency support team.  The building-specific teams have proved difficult to maintain as people move around campus in their various roles.  A campus-wide system will allow individuals to assist with incidents in any building, rather than only those where their office is located.  Additionally, this approach will expand beyond evacuation teams and will provide information on other incidents and responses as well.

To support this change, we have developed a series of training modules for participants.  These include:

• Campus Safety Orientation – This will be an online, on-demand video-based training, estimated at 8-10 minutes in length, which will include the bare essentials needed for anyone on campus – contact phone numbers, basic emergency responses, evacuation assembly locations, and how to receive emergency notifications.  (This is currently in development)
• Basic Emergency Response – This will be an instructor-led class reviewing the Safety Orientation, and expanding to discuss roles in an emergency, basic responses, requirements for employee accountability, and information regarding available emergency equipment.  Basic training will provide instruction on department-level response, but will not qualify the individual to fill roles in campus emergency response. This level of training is required for all emergency response staff, including Facilities, IAT, and Security, and for all director-level employees
• Emergency Support Team – Includes the Basic Emergency Response training, plus hands-on use of emergency equipment and participation in campus emergency drills.  Those who complete Emergency Support Team training will be qualified to fill supporting roles in response to campus emergencies.
• CPR/First Aid/AED Training – American Heart Association certification, offered on-campus
• Various FEMA online & classroom training modules

All of the modules will be available to all faculty and staff.  Some employees will be assigned training at varying levels based on their roles and/or location on campus.  A Safety Training Matrix detailing training assignments is available for review at https://tricities.wsu.edu/documents/2020/02/emergency-training-matrix.pdf.  Individuals who have specific training assignments will receive a separate e-mail describing those assignments and providing information on how to complete online training (where applicable).

The Basic Emergency Response training is now available, with six offerings scheduled on the following dates/times (training is expected to take about an hour, but 2-hour blocks are scheduled in order to allow time for questions).  .

Campus will be better able to respond to emergencies when more people are aware of the various roles and responses, so please consider attending, regardless of whether this course is assigned for your role.

Additional training offerings will be advertised as they are scheduled.