On November 15, 2019 MCPHS University completed a full-scale shelter in place exercise at the Boston campus. Students, faculty and staff across the facility responded immediately upon the exercise communication being sent by MCPHS Public Safety. Overall, response was excellent. Personnel from across the campus took leadership in their areas/ classrooms and followed appropriate shelter in place procedures. Campus response was observed by Public Safety as well as other staff from across the institution.
The completion of the November 15th exercise at MCPHS helped complete the COF Emergency Management Program goal of completing full-scale shelter in place exercises at each COF Institution within a calendar year. Through conducting the same exercise across all five campuses, COF was able to identify common successes and areas for improvement. Here is the exercise feedback that was shared with each individual COF campus:
Shelter in place and other full-scale exercises help us learn and prepare for an actual emergency on campus. Based on the feedback from the COF community and exercise evaluators, COF Emergency Management has developed a list of areas for improvement:
- If you did not receive your Campus Alert/ RAVE Alert messages during the shelter in place exercise, please make sure that your Campus Alert/RAVE Alert profile is current.
- If you receive an emergency alert from your campus via text, voice, or email, please share it with those around you, in your classroom, etc. Don’t assume that everyone saw or received the message. If you see or hear something, say something.
- If you were unsure of how to respond appropriately during the exercise, please take the time to watch this Active Threat/ Shelter in Place Training Video.
- Participation during these drills and exercises is important in developing muscle memory for real-life emergency events. If you did not participate during this drill, please understand that moving forward your involvement is essential to ensuring the overall emergency readiness on your campus