Your Emergency Plan Starts Here
Emergency preparedness starts with you! The Office of Emergency Management is your resource to become #MonarchReady. We suggest every Monarch consider these three key ways to enhance your personal preparedness: get an emergency kit, make a plan, and stay informed with the latest official information.
Get a Kit
Having an emergency supply kit is the first step in being prepared. Your supply kit should be a collection of basic items you may need in the event of an emergency, whether on campus, at home, or out and about. During and after an emergency, you may need to be self-sufficient, and your kit should have the essentials to keep you sustained for at least 72 hours.
Basic Kit Items:
- Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
- At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
- Manual can opener
- Battery-powered, hand crank, or solar NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Whistle to signal for help
- Dust mask to help filter contaminated air
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Wrench, pliers, or multi-tool
- Local maps
- Cell phone and computer chargers (inverter or solar charger are best) and charging cables
- Personal identification (ex: driver's license, passport, Â鶹´«Ã½ ID card)
- Change of clothes, extra socks, and a pair of sturdy shoes
Visit for more information on building a personal preparedness kit.
Plan Ahead
It's critical to make a personal preparedness plan well in advance of an emergency. Your plan should be developed with your family/friends and cover the following:
- How you will contact each another
- How you will get to a safe place, and where that will be
- How you will reconnect with each other
- What information you will share and where you'll get emergency updates from
- What you will do in different situations
Communication
A communications plan is essential as communications are generally the first point to break down during an emergency. Practicing your communication plan ahead of time will greatly improve your situation during an emergency. Phone lines often become overloaded or lost during a crisis, so remember to text first, if possible.
Evacuation
Once you have your communications plan in place, determine how you'll need to evacuate the buildings you frequent. If there is a fire in a building, do you know two ways out? Where is your Emergency Assembly Area outside? If you have to leave campus, do you know where you will go? How will you get there? Creating and practicing your evacuation plan before an emergency can help reduce stress when you need to put the plan into action.
Area of Rescue or Refuge
If you are in a building with an Area of Rescue or Refuge, this is the designated safe place for those who cannot readily evacuate to remain until first responders arrive to provide assistance. Press the "Area of Rescue" or "Area of Refuge" button to alert a panel within the building that first responders will check if a building emergency exists. If there is an emergency in your building, always call the Â鶹´«Ã½ Police Department at 757-683-4000.
Stay Informed
Signing up for Â鶹´«Ã½ Alerts is one of the smartest, quickest, easiest things you can do for your safety. These additional resources are also recommended to help you stay informed:
- (and other local alert systems)
- TV & Radio stations
- Live Safe app
- Â鶹´«Ã½ Mobile app
- Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Media