Emergency Response & Recovery Plan

Situations & Assumptions

Levels of Emergency Response

LEVEL 1 - A minor department or building incident that can be resolved by the responding service unit (Custodial Services, Physical Plant, Police Services, Risk Management, Telecommunications, etc). This may result in calling in personnel and notifying the department where the problem occurred. (Example: Physical Plant responds to a broken water pipe).

LEVEL 2 - A department or building incident that can be resolved with existing University resources or limited outside help. A Level 2 incident is usually a one-dimensional event that has a limited duration and little impact to the campus community beyond those using the space/building in which it occurred. (Example: Minor chemical or fuel oil spills, building loss of heat or electricity for several hours, or a minor fire confined to a room and not involving hazardous chemicals.)

LEVEL 3 - Situations that are primarily people-, rather than infrastructure-focused.  In particular, many student issues can become quite complex because of varied institutional and student support responses that must be coordinated. Level 3 situations may emerge as a single incident, but have the potential to quickly evolve into a multi-faceted campus crisis. (Example: serial sexual assaults, successful suicide, death on campus, multiple injuries, large-scale dissent/disruption including riots, hate crime, or contagious disease outbreak.)

LEVEL 4 - A major emergency that impacts a sizable portion of the campus and/or outside community. Level 4 emergencies may be single- or multi-hazard situations, and often require considerable and timely coordination both within and outside the University. Level 4 emergencies also include imminent events on campus or in the general community that may develop into a major University crisis or a full disaster. (Examples: active shooter, bomb threat, heating plant failure, extended power outage, severe storms, major fire, or domestic water contamination.)

LEVEL 5 - A catastrophic emergency event involving the entire campus and surrounding community. Immediate resolution of the disaster, which is usually multi-hazard, is beyond the emergency response capabilities of campus and local resources. (Example: earthquake, major hurricane, or act of terrorism which would require State and Federal assistance.)

Assumptions

Although the University of Vermont is treated as a “jurisdiction” for administrative and training purposes by the Vermont Department of Emergency Management, it has no special statutory authority with regard to handling emergencies beyond those granted to a Police department or a Rescue squad. However, to expedite collaboration, the UVM Associate Vice President for Administrative and Facilities Services has been named a Deputy Emergency Management Director for the City of Burlington, with responsibility for the UVM Campus.

For UVM to access public resources (local, State, or Federal) in an emergency, requests for those resources will be routed through the City of Burlington, either through its EOC or Fire Department Chief Engineer (its designated Emergency Manager). UVM may also be asked to provide a Liaison at the Burlington Emergency Operations Center for a community-wide event.

Last modified January 18 2011 03:05 PM