An evacuation is implemented under conditions when it is no longer safe for students, faculty and staff to remain in a building or a specific area in a building. This requires occupants to move out and away from a building to a designated building area of refuge or out and away from a specific area within a building. Most commonly used when there is a suspected fire or hazardous material spill in a building.

Procedures

• Notify occupants and help those needing assistance in the immediate area.
• Activate the nearest fire alarm pull station
• Confine the fire by closing doors as you exit
• Evacuate the building at the nearest exit and call the Penn Police at 215-573-3333.
• Do not, under any circumstances, enter the building until authorized to do so by emergency personnel.

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Shelter-In-Place is a procedure where the entire building population is moved to a single or multiple location(s) in a building. Most commonly used during weather emergencies or when an extremely hazardous substance is released into the outside atmosphere.

Procedures

• Stay inside your building, or immediately go into the nearest building.
• Close all windows.
• Immediately go to your designated shelter area.
• If you do not know where your designated shelter area is located, look for the Emergency Preparedness Bulletin in your building. This bulletin is usually located on the first floor, near or inside of the elevators. You can also go to the Blue Book section of this website and view the bulletin for your building there
• Await further instructions from emergency personnel or your Emergency Team Member.
• DO NOT evacuate the building until you receive an "all clear" from emergency personnel.

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Fires are extremely dangerous, deadly and can spread very fast. If you encounter a fire in your building or residence get out and away from the danger and follow the below procedures.

Procedures

• Activate the nearest fire alarm pull station.
• Notify occupants and help those needing assistance in the immediate area.
• Confine the fire by closing doors as you exit.
• Evacuate the building at the nearest exit and call the Penn Police at 215-573-3333.
• Go to the designated Building Area of Refuge (BAR).
• Do not, under any circumstances, enter the building until authorized to do so by emergency personnel.

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An active shooter is an event in which one or more persons commit harm to multiple victims, in a short period of time, through the use of firearms.

Procedures

• If possible, exit the building immediately and call Penn Police at 215-573-3333, or 511 from a campus phone or at any blue light phone.
• If you can not exit: Clear the hallway immediately; remain behind closed doors in a locked or barricaded room; stay away from all windows; remain calm and quietly call the Penn Police at 215-573-3333 or 511 from a campus phone.
• DO NOT: Leave or unlock the door to "see what is happening."
• DO NOT: Attempt to confront or apprehend the shooter, unless this is a last resort.
• DO NOT: Assume someone else has called the police, YOU make the call.
• Evacuate the room only when emergency personnel have arrived and given the "all clear."

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A Lock Out prohibits unauthorized personnel into a building. All exterior doors are locked and the main entrance is monitored by the UPPD, Allied Security, and/or administrators. This procedure allows the occupants of a building to continue as normal, but curtails outside activity. A Lock Out is most commonly used when an incident is occurring outside a building.

Procedures

• Lock all exterior doors and stay inside.
• Prevent entry into building.
• Continue with daily activity inside.
• Be vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity to Penn Police at 215-573-3333 or 511 from a campus phone.
• Do not, under any circumstances, enter the building until authorized to do so by emergency personnel.

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A Lock Down is a procedure used when there is an immediate threat to the building occupants. In the event of a Lock Down, students, faculty and staff would be instructed to secure themselves in the room they are in and not to leave until the situation has been curtailed. This allows emergency responders to secure the students and staff in place, address the immediate threat and remove any innocent bystanders from immediate danger to an area of safe refuge.

Procedures

• Stay in your room or office and barricade the door.
• Remain quiet.
• Do not attempt to leave the building or room.
• Wait until emergency personnel give you an "all clear!"

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Bomb threats are taken very seriously by the Division of Public Safety. If you receive a call from anyone making such a threat, please act immediately.

Procedures

• Remain calm.
• If the threat is received by phone, try to remember as much information about the phone call as possible.
• Immediately call Penn Police at 215-573-3333. Use a cell phone if possible, in case you are required to evacuate. If you do not have one, then call 511 from a campus phone.
• Follow the instructions from emergency personnel.

Call Trace

Harassing or threatening phone calls can be traced if you receive that call on a University phone line. If you receive a bomb threat, being able to trace the call can drastically aid Penn police in their investigation of the incident.

First, get the Call Trace feature! You can not use this feature until you first activate it. To do so, request the feature in writing to service-requests@isc.upenn.edu. You can do this at anytime and it is a good feature to have on your phone.

Follow these steps to get the call trace feature and use it should an you ever receive a threatening or harassing phone call:

• After hanging up with the threatening caller, immediately call the Penn Police, however, if you are able to call from your cell phone or a different line, then do so.
• After following all instructions from the Penn Police, or if you are able to while on the the Phone, pick up the phone that the threatening call came in from and dial 257.
• Remember, your personal safety comes first! If you are told to evacuate the building, do so immediately.

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Preventing Terrorism

The Department of Homeland Security maintains important resource information on terrorism. Their website on Counterterrorism is a useful resource in understanding the mission of Homeland Security, preventing terrorism and the roles and responsibilities you can have in helping to prevent acts of terrorism. Visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/counterterrorism.shtm for more information.

Reporting Terrorism:

If you have information regarding suspicious activity that may be related to terrorism you can contact the Department of Homeland Security by going online at http://www.dhs.gov/files/reportincidents/counterterrorism.shtm.

You may also contact the Penn Police at 215-573-3333 or 511 from a campus phone. You can also fill out a silent witness form on the Division of Public Safety’s website at https://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/Forms_silentWitness.asp.

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