emergency
emergency

Emergency Procedures are found in the Security section of this web page.

Emergency Planning

Trent University's Emergency Planning Committee meets regularly to develop and put in place University and departmental plans designed to prepare for, respond to and recover from any number of crises, including pandemics.

The Trent University's Emergency Management Plan is an umbrella plan that establishes the University's decision making structure and process in the event of a crisis, and articulates specific crisis response responsibilities for key departments.  The plan is supported by more detailed departmental plans, and specific functional plans such as communications and communicable disease response.  The plan, subplans and instructions for departmental planning are available onthis site in the Intranet Portal.

Pandemic Preparedness

The World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada advise that an influenza pandemic is inevitable; the question is not if but when.  The Trent University Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) has been working to develop effective strategies to mitigate the potential impact on our students, faculty and staff and the operations of the university in general.

The EPC has been meeting regularly to update existing emergency response plans, to identify ways to promote prevention and minimize the spread of infection and illness in the university community, to ensure communications strategies are in place which guarantee easy and quick access to critical information related to a pandemic and to assess how university operations would be affected in the event that a pandemic occurs.  Our first tabletop exercise to test our pandemic plan was conducted on February 19th, 2007.  In addition to the Emergency Operations Control Group members and their alternates, representatives from the Risk Management Office, the City of Peterborough and the Gzowski College cabinet attended.  The exercise affirmed that the decision making structure and processes in our plan work effectively and produced a number of observations to guide our continuing planning initiatives.

There is also a need to prepare for the impact on the workforce. It has been projected that between 15 and 50 per cent of the workforce could be absent due to the effects of the virus on individuals and families. This clearly indicates the need for the University to prepare plans and put policies in place to ensure continuity of critical services and infrastructure.

Future planning updates will be posted on this website.

 

 

Personal Precautions

The best way to stay healthy through a pandemic, or any other outbreak of communicable diseases, is to take the following precautions.

Wash your hands at least five times a day

  • Before eating and after coughing, sneezing or using the washroom
  • Use soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds (as long as it takes you to sing the "ABC"s)
  • Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers when soap and water are not available

Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze

  • Sneeze into a tissue or into your upper sleeve rather than your hand.
  • If you use a tissue, deposit it in a trash receptacle and wash your hands immediately.

Keep shared surface areas clean

  • Doorknobs, light switches, telephones, keyboards and other surfaces can become contaminated with all kinds of bacteria and viruses. Regular cleaning and disinfecting of these surfaces can help.

If you get sick, stay home!

If you go out when you're sick, you may spread your illness to co-workers, classmates, neighbours or others. It may take you longer to get better if you are not well rested. Wait until you no longer have a fever and your cough is improving.