Planning for the worst
Disaster Group presents core plan, posts online templates

Disasters--large and small, natural and unnatural--happen. Nearly every day the news carries reports of new calamities.

Although many disasters can't be avoided, careful planning can reduce the chances of death and injuries, speed recovery and control costs in an emergency.

The Disaster Planning Group (DPG), appointed last year by UD President David P. Roselle, has developed a campus Emergency Operations Plan that provides a framework for response and recovery in the event of a disaster or major emergency.

"Our core plan is a starting place, but for that plan to succeed, parallel efforts must take place within academic and administrative units," DPG head Lawrence Thornton, director of Public Safety, said. "The plan, which is modeled in part on successful planning documents developed by other universities, specifies how units within the University will coordinate their activities when a disaster occurs."

DPG drew on the expertise of Jim Kendra in UD's Disaster Research Center in developing the core plan, as well as a web-based planning template and planning guidelines. Management Information Services worked with DPG to put an easy-to-use and maintain template online.

"We are now providing guidance to academic departments and administrative units so that they can develop their own emergency procedures that are consistent with the campus plan," Thornton said. "In order for emergency response and recovery activities to be effective, individual units must understand their emergency roles and be able to carry them out."

Units are expected to use the template to complete their own specific plans by Jan. 31. Each unit has been asked to designate one person to be sure its plan is completed and updated annually.

The campus-wide Emergency Operations Plan can be viewed at [www.udel.edu/emerop/]. Entry to the site is restricted to University staff and students, who must use their user names and passwords to gain access.

For more information, contact Thornton, Kendra or Robin Elliott, director of Occupational Health and Safety.