Responding to Emergencies Changes for Your Safety

Over the past several years, UW-Superior has made many changes in the way we respond to emergencies. All of these changes are designed to provide a safer environment to work, study, and play. Some of our changes include:

• UW-Superior Emergency Response Plan
• Fire Evacuation Procedures, Fall 2005
• What are Safe Zones?
• Severe Weather Safety
• Suggested Severe Weather Shelters

Street Addresses for All buildings

Street addresses have been assigned to all buildings at UW-Superior, including Haugsrud field and buildings that do not border on streets. The street addresses were assigned by the City of Superior in order to improve the response time for emergency responders, but are not recognized by the postal service or shipping services for mail or package deliveries. The addresses are also useful for providing directions for a meeting, having pizzas delivered and special events. Street addresses are found here.

Continue to use our standard addresses for the delivery of packages and mail. Using the building address could delay your mail or package delivery.

Reporting Emergencies

Dial 911 to report any life threatening emergency such as fire, severe injuries or rescue to summon local fire, police or ambulance. All phones can now dial 911, but 9-911 will also work. It will be necessary to provide the building, room and if possible the street address to the dispatcher.

Placing a call to 911 will initiate the first responders and the city dispatcher will notify Campus Safety to respond at the same time. In non emergency situations, including minor injuries, small chemical spills, stuck elevators, etc., contact Campus Safety at ext. 8114 for assistance.

Emergency Evacuation Posters

Classrooms, corridors, and office suites have Emergency Evacuation Posters. Each poster includes a locator, safe zone locations, evacuation routes, emergency equipment locations, emergency phone numbers, building addresses and Assembly Points. Always be aware of your surroundings and how to evacuate safely. Take time to review the posters before an emergency happens – there won't be time during the emergency.

An "Assembly Point" is a single meeting location for all occupants in the building during an emergency. Meeting at the assembly point moves people away from the dangers of moving emergency vehicles, provides nearby shelter for large groups and provides an area for people to "check in" before leaving the area. Checking in at the assembly point will help account for people who may be trapped within a building during a real fire emergency.

New Fire Alarm Systems

New fire alarms systems have now been upgraded in all of the academic buildings, Wessman Arena, Crownhart, Curran-McNeill, Ross, Hawkes, and Ostrander. The system features include zones of detection, heat or smoke sensors, and strobe lights to warn the hearing impaired. The newest systems have the ability to send audio messages via speaker through out the hallways for warnings or directions in emergencies.

All fire alarm systems on campus are designed to sound an alarm only inside the building and do not notify a central alarm station on campus or at the city. When a fire alarm sounds, everyone needs to evacuate to a safe location and someone must call 911. The fire department will respond to all calls. If you have reason to suspect that some non-fire event happened to trigger the alarm, notify campus safety after calling 911.

The alarm tones may differ from building to building depending upon the installation date. The alarm can be distinguished from other noises in the building because it will be loud and an atypical sound, and if the building is equipped, the strobes will be activated. When the alarm is activated, you must exit the building in an orderly manner, and you may not re-enter the building until given the all-clear is given by campus safety or the fire department. Take your coats, it could take a while to search the building.