Huntingdon College
Emergency Management Plan
Protect Yourself: Threat and Hazard Specific Annexes
Technological Hazards
Adversarial and Human Caused Threats
Policy and Organizational Statements
The Goals and Objectives for the Emergency Response Plan
The goal and objectives of the Huntingdon College Emergency Management Plan focuses on the prevention, protection , mitigation, communications, response and recovery from natural and man-made hazards that pose safety issues or a threat to the College’s stakeholders i.e., our faculty, students, parents/guardians, staff and visitors, and its physical assets and operations.
Hazards by definition are any source of danger that may or may not lead to an emergency or disaster. Natural hazards include significant weather events (such as severe storms) while man-made or technological hazards range from fires, accidents, cyber attacks and violent criminal/terrorist acts.
Prevention, Protection and Mitigation
Risk or hazard assessment is an essential component of any emergency management plan. Risk or hazard assessment can be defined as identifying the sources of danger that could potentially cause an emergency or disaster. Huntingdon College’s priority and focus is to manage these hazards through established prevention, protection and mitigation guidelines. This plan also identifies specific actions that can be undertaken to minimize or eliminate these vulnerabilities. This increases the probability that the effect of any disaster or event is prevented or mitigated/minimized while the protection of life, property and return to normal operations is the focus and priority of the College.
Huntingdon College has identified the above listed hazards that potentially pose a public safety issue or threat to the College community. Remember, you too are responsible for preparing yourself for an emergency or disaster event. To see how you can prepare for, protect yourself from, mitigate and respond to hazards or other public safety risks see the Standard Operating Procedures the College has outlined below (Use the links below for information on how you should handle any Campus emergency).
Communications
A critical factor in any emergency management plan is communications. It is often the weakest link in any emergency response or operation.
The dissemination of accurate and timely information to the Huntingdon College community and stakeholders plays a major role in the effective prevention, protection, mitigation, response to and recovery from an emergency event. This emergency management plan serves as one vehicle to prepare, protect and mitigate against public safety incidents or other hazards. Huntingdon College is committed to your safety by transmitting timely and accurate information to you using various outlets described below.
If you ever need emergency assistance call 911 and Campus Security telephone numbers 334-324-6565 when safe to do so. In addition, security “help” phone boxes are located:
- Behind Flowers Hall (west entrance)
- The Roland Parking Lot
- The Searcy Parking Lot
- Front of Blount Hall
- Front of Searcy Hall
- Front of Ligon Hall
- Main entrance to the Wilson Gym
- Weil Center (northwest entrance)
Both local emergency first responders and campus security can be contacted from these phones.
Emergency Notification Systems
In the event of an actual or potential emergency, crisis situation, or significant hazard event that may affect you or the Huntingdon College community or its operations, all students, faculty, staff, and administrators will be notified as soon as possible through the College’s Emergency Notification System called ”Hawk Alert.” The Hawk Alert System will transmit information and instructions about the situation or incident, and what actions you need to take. Students will receive this message by e-mail or via text messaging on your cell phone or other personal device. Faculty, staff, and administrators will receive this message via e-mail, cell phone/personal devices, or office telephone. Local media outlets can also be consulted for information as the College will make statements to the media, and ensure accurate information is available to the community.
Huntingdon College Campus Security and Emergency Management officials also highly recommend and encourage all students, faculty, staff, and administrators to sign up for the Montgomery City/County Emergency Management Agency Alert Montgomery Notification System. Alert Montgomery is a software application used to send emergency alerts, notifications and updates to your cell phone, home/work phone, and/or e-mail account. In the event of an emergency, such as severe weather, or potential safety hazard, the Department of Public Safety will be able to send important alerts and updates directly to you.
The Montgomery City/County Emergency Management Agency also uses outdoor tornado warning sirens located around Montgomery to alert you of an imminent threat of a tornado event. The weather siren closest to the Huntingdon College campus is located across the street from Huntingdon College at the City of Montgomery Fire Station 7, 1329 E. Fairview Avenue, Montgomery, telephone number 334-625-4468. Regular monthly tests of all severe weather sirens within the county are conducted on the first Wednesday of each month at 3:30 p.m., weather permitting. Learn how these sirens sound.
Huntingdon College routinely (approximately once a semester) tests the Hawk Alert Emergency Notification System. If you do not receive a Hawk Alert test notification please contact the Office of Technology Support Services as soon as possible via techteam@gxitma.net or telephone number 334-833-4005. Your tech team is located in the Wilson Building, Room 111. Keep Huntingdon College up to date with your most current telephone and contact information to ensure you receive future emergency notifications. You must do your part to stay connected. Your safety depends on it!
Response
As first responders, the Huntingdon College Campus Security team (Chief of Security and Security Officers led by the Director of Campus Safety) will initially lead and manage the immediate response to any incident or emergency at the College, and will partner with public safety officials when they arrive on the scene. The College’s Campus Security team will address any threats, direct the evacuation of students and staff if necessary, manage crowd control and provide first aid.
How you respond to a public safety risk, threat, or natural hazard is vitally important. The Standard Operating Procedures under the Protect Yourself: Threat and Hazard Specific Annexes provide detailed information about what to do before, during and after an identified incident. Become familiar with the information in the Protect Yourself: Threat and Hazard Specific Annexes.
As part of the response to any public safety risk, threat or natural hazard the College may institute a mandatory Lockdown or Shelter-In-Place procedures. Use the links below for information on how you should handle a Campus Lockdown or Shelter–In-Place emergency.
Recovery
When deemed necessary, Huntingdon College’s Emergency Management Plan establishes a Crisis Management Team that is activated for actual or potential emergencies that could threaten or have a significant impact on the College’s operations, students, faculty, staff, and administrators. The College’s Crisis Management Team priority is to assess, respond to, manage and mitigate the threat or incident, and to responsibly make decisions that minimize the effects of any hazards or threats to the College community.
The Command Post Team and Crisis Management Team are comprised of leaders from the College’s administration, faculty, facilities, and Campus Security. The College’s Crisis Management Team will partner with local, county, state and federal law enforcement, and emergency management agencies as needed to mitigate any emergencies, and to support their mission in safely resolving any College public safety incident. This approach ensures and promotes the safety of the Huntingdon College community, its mission, and continuity of operations. The College’s Crisis Management Team is a very important part of the Emergency Management Plan’s recovery process through its leadership, guidance, resources and support.
This Emergency Management Plan conforms to the guidelines outlined in the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students, Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Institutions of Higher Education, Washington, DC, 2013, and the Huntingdon College Board of Trustee guidelines as established under Article IV, I of the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees Enterprise Risk Management Committee is responsible for general oversight of the identification, assessment, mitigation and reporting of material cross-functional institutional risks. This Emergency Management Plan conforms to all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
