Emergency Response at Mount Royal University
Emergency Response Planning
MRU is committed to creating a safe and healthy living and learning environment. The health and safety of the MRU community (staff, students, and visitors) are the highest priority for emergency management. Our emergency response planning ensures an active, efficient, and appropriate response for emergency management and helps to facilitate recovery. If there is an emergency on campus, the community could be notified through:
- Fire alarm
- Security Personnel
- Public Address
- Omnivex screens
- Website (http://www.mtroyal.ca)
In the event of an emergency, ensure your safety and contact:
- Calgary Emergency Services at 9-1-1 (9-9-1-1 if using MRU phones)
- Campus Security at 5900 (403-440-5900)
During an Emergency
In the event of an Emergency on Campus, there are three typical responses for members of the community on campus:
- evacuation and gathering at predetermined Muster Points, if it is safe to do so
- lockdown
- shelter in place
The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)
Mount Royal uses the principals of Incident Command Systems (ICS) to manage Campus emergencies and threats. In the event of a level 2 or 3 emergency, the EOC will be activated to support the incident command (the “scene”). The EOC is responsible for operational management of a response and the associated recovery while dealing with external groups such as emergency management agencies, the media, and the general public.
Emergency Response Levels
Level 2: A serious emergency exists that represents a danger to the University that poses an immediate threat to the university community that cannot be satisfied by evacuating the building. The expected duration of the Level 2 emergency response phase is 12 - 24 hours and requires additional assistance from outside agencies. This level may require activation of the EOC or require specific members of the EOC to respond.
Level 3: A crisis situation exists that seriously affects the MRU community's safety, the environment, or operations and may be a direct and immediate threat to the community. It requires a significant response from emergency response agencies and government and is expected to be longer than 24 hours in duration. This level requires full activation of the EOC.
After an emergency
After an emergency that impacts members of our community, MRU engages Wellness Services to provide critical incident stress debriefing. They can be contacted at 403-440-6362.
Emergency Response ManualMembers of the MRU community can now find emergency response Emergency Manual at visible locations such as offices, classrooms and common areas on campus. The grab-and-go manuals were installed in early 2015, based upon continuous emergency response planning at MRU.
Security Services is on-call 24/7, and is staffed with personnel who are highly trained professionals and all trained in First Aid. Recreation staff members are also trained to respond to medical and institutional emergencies, and can provide guidance in a difficult situation.
As well, several MRU community officers have been trained and are available to provide assistance and take a leadership role in the event of an emergency. MRU regularly practices emergency response tactics and notification techniques. We regularly test our mass communication system, fire alarms and red emergency phones. In addition to routine inspections, our EOC team also holds a three-day exercise annually to test our resiliency and ability to respond to a full-scale emergency.
MRU is a strong promoter of the SAFEWALK program on campus. SAFEWALK is a 24-hour program that provides an escort on campus for anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable walking alone.
MRU is also a member of the Campus Alberta Risk and Assurance committee (CARA). The committee, which is made up of post-secondary institutions province wide, shares best practices and works to develop resources to promote safety on Campuses. CARA recently developed a nine-minute active shooter video that has been endorsed by all the Alberta Police Chiefs.