CEOC Relationship to NIMS

In the event that an emergency occurs which significantly disrupts campus operations, the Campus Emergency Operations Committee convenes to begin the process of response, mitigation, and recovery.  The Campus Emergency Operations Committee manual is the blueprint for addressing campus emergency response activities.  The CEOC manual was recently revised to include many of the concepts outlined in the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  An assessment is conducted each year to assure that the CEOC manual is NIMS compliant.  Distribution of the CEOC manual is limited to University campus administration, college deans, directors of critical response units, and key department heads from which the University receives critical support for various emergency response functions.

Emergency Operations Plan Templates

In order to provide assistance to campus departments, the Office of Campus Emergency Planning has created an “all hazards” emergency operations plan template which is available on our template web page.  This template can easily be customized to address specific departmental needs. Departments are encouraged to forward any questions or suggestions to the Director of Emergency Planning at emergencyplanning@ad.uiuc.edu.   Also Kip Mecum can also be reached at 333-1491 for questions and comments. 

Units should forward a copy of their completed emergency operations plan to the office of the Director of Emergency Planning at emergencyplanning@ad.uiuc.edu, or through the U.S. mail to the Director of Emergency Planning, 1110 W. Springfield Ave., Urbana, Illinois 61801 Attention:  Kip Mecum.

Emergency Operations Plan Checklist

 IN the event that campus units already have an emergency operations plan, the Office of Campus Emergency Planning has created a checklist.  The checklist is available on our template web page and can be used to assess whether or not the unit emergency operation plan addresses an “all hazards” approach. 

Evacuation Planning

Over the past several years, the University has provided considerable training in the proper use of fire extinguishers. A significant benefit would be gained by focusing attention and practicing the proper techniques for evacuation of University facilities during emergencies. Included within the aforementioned Emergency Operations Plan template is a separate section on evacuation planning.  All campus units are strongly encouraged to develop a unit evacuation plan, if they do not already have one. 

For units that have an existing emergency operations plan, a separate template for evacuation planning is available on our template web page. This evacuation plan template was developed with the assistance and cooperation of the Urbana and Champaign Fire Departments, The Division of Safety & Compliance as well as the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services. We wish to thank them for their participation in this effort.

Exercising the Plan

Once a unit has developed an emergency operations plan or an evacuation plan, they are strongly encouraged to conduct routine exercises to practice and assure understanding of the various elements of the plan(s).  The frequency of these exercises should be no less than annually, and semi-annually is recommended.

Exercises can be conducted as either “real time” or live exercises, or they may simply be a tabletop/discussion exercise where the department walks through the procedures and protocols for responding to an incident.   The purpose of any exercise is to establish familiarity and understanding within the unit on the basic elements of the emergency operations plan. Exercising the emergency operations plan annually also assures that units will update their plans on the same frequency to keep pace with staff changes, organizational changes, technology developments and critical contact information.

The key advantage to conducting frequent exercises is the ability to vary the nature of the emergency included in the exercise.  Thus, a unit can practice responding to a fire, earthquake, tornado, terrorist incident, utility failure, etc. In the event of a real emergency, this practice becomes invaluable to establishing the proper roles for individuals and focusing their efforts on the correct tasks. The Office of Campus Emergency Planning is available to provide assistance for units in planning and/or conducting emergency exercises to practice their emergency operations plans.   It is our intention to provide a template for units to assist in the preparation for conducting exercises during the Fall of 2006.