The U is shaking up their earthquake preparedness program.
The Great Utah ShakeOut, a statewide drill to prepare residents for an earthquake, is held annually on April 21 at 10:15 a.m. This year, the U will not hold a full-scale evacuation. Instead, a new survey will preface the drill, and the U will launch an app called “U Heads Up!” to give instructions on how to react to campus emergencies.
Emergency management, the department over the drill, decided to forego the evacuation this year because of response to previous years’ post-drill surveys. Many students and faculty felt the evacuation was disruptive, as ShakeOut usually happens at the same time people are preparing for finals.
Russell Ballou, a junior in business, said the new change is a relief.
“It’s really distracting to have to worry about an earthquake drill while listening to a lecture,” Ballou said.
This year, students and faculty are instructed to focus on practicing “Drop, Cover, and Hold On,” a method where people indoors drop under a chair or desk for cover, and those outdoors drop to the ground and cover their heads as they wait for the earthquake to finish.
Emergency management said they recognize the importance of evacuation drills, and although there won’t be one this spring, there will be a full-scale exercise in Fall 2016.
This year, the U sent out a pre-drill survey, which opened on March 7, and will send out a post-drill one as well. The data collected is intended to pinpoint areas that need improvement based on previous experiences. To encourage participation, emergency management will hold a drawing for a $200 gift card.
Stuart Moffatt, associate director of emergency management, said he hopes for a large response to help make changes for this program.
“You learn a lot from participating, and we learn a lot from … feedback,” Moffat said.
Some of the situations addressed in the “U Heads Up!” app include extreme weather, medical emergencies and acts of violence. The app features a reporting tool called “See Something/Say Something,” for students to report safety concerns. It will also reroute reports to the appropriate department, like facilities management, environmental health and safety, or UPD. This resource can be used by campus visitors or community members who would like to be notified of campus emergencies.
The pre-drill survey can be taken at em.utah.edu/so2016pre and the U Heads Up! app can be downloaded at utah.edu/headsup.
@emilyinorgandy