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UVA EMERGENCY HEAD PLANS FOR THE WORST-THE DAILY PROGRESS, AUGUST 10, 2007

Posted: Friday August 10, 2007

UVa Emergency Head Plans for the Worst

By Brian McNeill / bmcneill@dailyprogress.com | 978-7266
August 10, 2007

Marjorie L. Sidebottom will become the University of Virginia’s first director of emergency preparedness on Sept. 1.
In her new role, Sidebottom will oversee all aspects of UVa’s efforts to prepare for natural, epidemic and terrorist emergencies.
Sidebottom is a veteran of worst-case scenario planning at UVa, having served as director of emergency preparedness for the UVa Health System since 1993.

Q: How prepared is UVa to handle a natural disaster or terrorist attack?
A: UVa has plans that are very well developed. We’ve been working on emergency plans for lots of things for many years in both the health system and at the university. We can respond to any emergency.
That said, there’s always more you can do. Emergency planning is about always continuing to enhance what you have as a program.

Q: What is one area of vulnerability that needs enhancement?
A: One that comes to mind – and this is true for any emergency anywhere – is communication.
To address this, we’ve just added an emergency text messaging alert system. And we’re also talking about adding a siren system for public alerts.

Q: What can faculty, student and staff members do to be safe in an emergency?
A: Everybody at the university is going to have to take on some basic responsibility in an emergency.
What I really want to make sure is that everybody is an asset in an emergency and knows what to do – because otherwise they can be a liability.
Everyone needs a personal emergency communication plan. They need to know where they’re going to get information. And they also need a personal communication plan – figure out in advance how they’re going to notify their families in an emergency.

Q: What would be the worst-case scenario for UVa? What keeps you up at night?
A: I don’t know that anything keeps me up at night. Maybe that’s because I’ve been doing this a long time.
But I am concerned about the amount of people who would come out of Washington or Richmond if something happened there. They would have a big impact on our resources here.

Q: Is it actually possible to secure a college campus as large and open as UVa?
A: Can we lock-down the entire campus? No. And I’m not sure that would actually be a good idea because we have to keep everyone’s civil liberties in mind.
Are there measures that we can take in an emergency to secure individual areas and sections of UVa? Yes.

Q: With regards to emergency planning, what is one thing that UVa does exceptionally well?
A: Probably our greatest strength is that the senior level of the university administration is fully engaged in emergency preparedness.

Q: What’s next for UVa’s emergency preparation efforts?
A: My first task is to understand the individual plans that are in place on the academic side. I’m very familiar with the health system, but I need to learn more about emergency plans at each individual school.
I will not be creating an emergency plan for everybody. They know their areas and their systems better than I could ever hope to. I’m there to help coordinate, give guidance if necessary, to help with compliance of regulatory requirements and to assist them in ensuring that their plan is the most viable it can be for all hazards.