Emergency Plan
This document on emergency preparedness—Critical Incident and Emergency Management Plan—is designed to: a) inform the campus community about what to do in the event of a critical incident/emergency; b) assist the College in responding to critical incidents and emergency situations that may occur; and c) inform you about what to expect from campus and other officials responding to such an incident. Most of this information is also available on the LVC website and campus portal (MyLVC).
These plans and guidelines provide a framework to support institutional leadership in making thoughtful decisions, offering comprehensive responses, communicating with all constituencies, and utilizing all available resources. These plans and guidelines anticipate challenges to the institutional community and help facilitate comprehensive consideration of multiple factors when times of critical incidents and crises occur.
Content
These plans and guidelines are made up of several key components: The first element of these plans and guidelines is to define a Critical Incident and Emergency Management Team (CIEMT). The responsibility of this team is to oversee the management of all foreseeable incidents. This group has a defined chain of command with logically assigned responsibilities.
The document also provides standard protocols for specific types of scenarios and includes short- and long-term responses to specific incidents. The document considers internal and external constituencies affected by the incident. To assist in managing an incident, checklists ensure that all situations are attended to. Within these plans and guidelines, all available resources with contact information are noted. Also, vital to critical incident and emergency management is accurate documentation, highlighted in the document. Lastly, post-event evaluation expectations are defined within these plans and guidelines so that assessment and review can assist in future response.
Definition
Two key terms help define implementation and actions of the CIEMT. An emergency is defined as any occurrence or condition that requires prompt or immediate action. A critical incident is defined as an occurrence that significantly disrupts the normal operation of the College and possibly jeopardizes the health, safety, and well-being of the LVC community. Either type of incident can trigger activation of the CIEMT. The CIEMT will meet at the start of each academic year to evaluate and update the plan.
We strongly recommend that members of the campus community familiarize themselves with this document to be better prepared should a major emergency occur on campus.
Comments, questions, and suggestions about these guidelines are welcome. Please send them by email to emergency-plan@lvc.edu.