|
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TRIAD
The UCO Disaster Resistant University (DRU) Hazard Mitigation Plan is Phase I of UCO’s improved emergency preparedness effort. The DRU identifies for UCO what natural and manmade hazards threaten the university and how to address them.
Universities and their surrounding communities can be devastated by disasters. It’s not a matter of if, but when the Edmond community and UCO will be impacted directly by an Oklahoma brand of disaster – a tornado or by some other natural or man-made disaster. The Disaster Resistant University program is one way the UCO community is preparing itself for disaster and improving its emergency preparedness.
The improved emergency preparedness process UCO is implementing is three-fold:
- Mitigation Planning -- identify hazards and reduce their impact (UCO DRU).
- Emergency Operations Planning -- actions to respond to a hazard.
- Business Continuity Planning -- the recovery from the encountered hazard.
The UCO DRU Mitigation Plan is awaiting review by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and FEMA Region VI in Dallas. The DRU document contains the basic Mitigation Plan, a Manmade Hazards (Terrorism) section and a report on the Community Survey conducted in conjunction with the development of the Mitigation Plan.
Oklahoma County, where Edmond and UCO are situated, is the second most tornado-prone county in Oklahoma. Several others bounced around Edmond with devastating winds, causing power outages. Thus, taking steps to reduce damage from tornadoes is a priority in UCO’s mitigation plan. This priority came from responses by faculty, students, staff and the community to the DRU Survey and historical research. Improving the university’s sheltering capacity is foremost among UCO’s mitigation projects. UCO is applying for Pre-Disaster Mitigation funding from FEMA for projects listed in the DRU Mitigation Plan.
The DRU Mitigation Plan, the cornerstone for emergency preparedness at UCO, works in conjunction with Mitigation Planning of the City of Edmond, Oklahoma County and the State of Oklahoma. As UCO moves through it’s three-fold Emergency Preparedness process it will become stronger and less vulnerable to the hazards it faces.
|
|
"UCO is undertaking one of the most important Federal Grant Projects in which it has ever participated. .....this program is designed to better protect you and this University.
|
|
Executive Vice President, Steve Kreidler
|
|
