If the devastating landslide in Oso, Wash., or earthquakes in Los Angeles and Chile have taught us anything, it’s that you can never be too prepared for an emergency. In observance of Earthquake Awareness Month, the University of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management and Continuity (UOEMC) has coordinated several events and efforts throughout April to draw attention to emergency preparedness on campus and provide resources for students, staff and faculty to become better prepared.
On Tuesday, April 8, the UOEMC will hold a preparedness fair and emergency kit cook-off at the Erb Memorial Union amphitheater. The preparedness fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with information tables, raffles and giveaways from various departments and organizations including the Red Cross, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), the UOEMC and the UO Office of Risk Management.
From noon to 1 p.m. at the EMU, teams of UO staff members and students will compete in a “Top Chef”-style cooking competition. Participants, including the UO Sailing Club, UOPD, students from Planning, Public Policy and Management and staff members from the Department of Parking and Transportation, will be asked to prepare a dish in 45 minutes using primitive cooking tools and a limited number of ingredients. These tools and ingredients are limited to those that would normally be found in an emergency kit, including a camp stove, instant coffee, canned tuna and chicken, crackers, canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter and pasta.
“This is a fun event because emergency preparedness doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom” said Emma Stoker, UOEMC emergency management specialist.
Judges include Mike Eyster, associate vice president for Student Affairs and director of the University Health Center; Julie Brown, director of communications in the Office of Public Affairs Communications; and Doug Lang, executive chef in the UO Commissary Kitchen.
On Thursday, April 10, the UOEMC will once again sponsor the Ducks after Dark Zombie Movie Night double feature showing of “Warm Bodies” and “World War Z,” because if you are prepared for the zombie apocalypse, then you are prepared for any emergency. During the double feature, students will have the chance to win first aid kits and a hand crank flashlight/phone charger.
From April 7 through April 11, the UOEMC is asking students, faculty and staff to take the online “Are You Ready?” survey. Students, faculty and staff can take the survey to find out how prepared they really are, and win prizes including an emergency kit, first aid kits and a hand crank flashlight/phone charger.
The UOEMC is launching “Oregon Ready,” an online planning took to help campus departments and programs develop a business continuity plan. The step-by-step user guide is now available and UOEMC can conduct a kickoff meeting for any department that wants to begin its plan.
“We’re really excited about this tool and have designed it simplify continuity planning,” said Stoker. “I think it makes developing a business continuity plan more achievable for any department or unit.”
In recognition of the UO’s increasing diversity, the UOEMC’s website has also been updated to include multilingual resources. This new page compiles emergency preparedness information in several languages – Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish – for easy access.
In addition, the 2014 UO emergency procedures flipchart was recently distributed to departments throughout campus. This user friendly version is designed in a before-during-after framework to facilitate the review of each department’s emergency plan. This new flipchart includes updated information and can be hung in offices, break rooms or public spaces. Departments or individuals can request more copies through the UOEMC website.
Finally, the UOEMC, in partnership with the Emerald Venture Department, created a short video, “Resilient U,” that focuses making emergency preparedness fun with three simple steps – plan, prepare and practice. Stoker believes this video can be used to introduce emergency preparedness to new employees, or viewed during staff meetings.
For more information about the events during Earthquake Awareness Month, or if you or your department needs more copies of the emergency procedures flipchart, contact Emma Stocker at eStocker@uoregon.edu.
- by Melissa Foley, Office of Public Affairs Communications