Rule 3349-10-40 | Emergency notification, response and evacuation procedures.
(A) Purpose
The purpose of this rule is to ensure that the university is in compliance with the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, concerning emergency notification, response and evacuation. These procedures are in addition to and separate from those required for a timely warning required in response to specific crimes under the Clery Act.
(B) Scope
This rule applies to all university owned operated facilities.
(C) Definitions
Significant emergency or dangerous situation as used in this rule refers to a situation that poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of university faculty, staff, students or visitors. this determination shall be based upon:
(1) Personal observation of the event (sight or sound);
(2) Report from NEOMED police, faculty, staff, students, administrators, or visitors to the campus:
(3) Information from an outside reliable source, such as local police or fire, news media, or government entity; or
(4) Other means that might be available.
(D) Body of the rule
(1) NEOMED has adopted an emergency management plan in order to address and respond to significant emergencies or dangerous situations that may threaten the health and safety of anyone on campus. Once NEOMED becomes aware of an emergency, various individuals engage in an information sharing process. This may include, but is not limited to, the NEOMED university incident management team, NEOMED executive management team, Portage county sheriff's office, Ohio state highway patrol and/or the Rootstown fire department. During this process, it is determined whether the situation constitutes a significant emergency or dangerous situation based on the following: the type of incident; the risk of death, serious injury or illness to the NEOMED community; the number of people involved or injured, the location of the incident and the threat it prevents to safety of university activities; the potential physical or environmental damage that may result, as well as the threat to NEOMED's financial well-being. After assessing the situation, the following people are contacted to determine if an emergency notification is warranted based on the information obtained at that point:
(a) Chief marketing officer;
(b) Director of public safety/chief of police;
(c) Senior vice president, operations and finance;
(d) Executive director, campus operations; and
(e) Assistant director, campus operations.
(2) As soon as NEOMED confirms that a significant emergency or dangerous situation exists, it will:
(a) Take into account the safety of the campus community;
(b) Determine what information should be released about the situation; and
(c) Begin the emergency notification process.
(3) The only reason NEOMED would not issue an emergency notification if a significant emergency or dangerous situation exists is if doing so would compromise the university's efforts to assist the victim, contain or respond to the emergency, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.
(4) If an emergency notification is warranted, the director of public safety/chief of police, or designee, will determine the segments of the campus community to receive immediate notification based on the location and nature of the incident.
(5) The director of public safety/chief of police, or designee, will work with the chief marketing officer, or designee, to determine the content of emergency notification. If time is of the essence, an initial notification may be made by the department of public safety or the department of marketing and communications with follow up notification as soon as possible containing additional information and instructions. The emergency notification will include the following information:
(a) The type of incident;
(b) That public safety is issuing the emergency notification;
(c) Abbreviated instructions; and
(d) Where additional information may be obtained.
If the initial message is sent as a text message, it may be shorter due to limitations in the number of characters that can be transmitted in a single message. Additionally, if the department of public safety and the department of marketing and communications determine that emergency information needs to be disseminated beyond the university population to the community at large, it will do so through radio and/or television alerts to the local community. If appropriate, NEOMED may request the Rootstown fire department utilize their emergency notification system for notification to residents in Rootstown township. The department of marketing and communications will work with the department of public safety to develop the content of the message and determine the most effective media outlets for communicating the information based on the nature of the significant emergency or dangerous situation.
(6) Method of an emergency notification
One or more of the following methods to notify the campus community will be utilized:
(a) University mass emergency notification system that utilizes a combination of email, voice, text messaging, facebook and twitter;
(b) University e-mail system;
(c) University website; and/or
(d) Public address system.
(7) Personnel authorized to initiate an emergency notification to the university campus include:
(a) Chief marketing officer or designated backup;
(b) Director of public safety/chief of police or designated backup;
(c) Campus security personnel at the direction of paragraph (D)(7)(a) or (D)(7)(b) of this rule; and
(d) Vendor who supports NEOMED's emergency notification system.
(8) Recipients of the emergency notification will be instructed as to what to do based on the nature of the significant emergency or dangerous situation. For example, the emergency notification may require a recipient to do one of the following:
(a) Shelter in place
Regardless of where you are, the basic steps of shelter in place will generally remain the same. Should the need ever arise, do the following, unless instructed otherwise by local emergency personnel:
(i) Go to the nearest building.
(ii) Close all doors and windows to seal off the building from the exterior.
(iii) Shut off air conditioners, furnaces and other fans that draw outside air into the building.
(iv) Conduct an accountability check of students, faculty and staff.
(v) Prevent anyone from leaving the shelter.
(vi) Remain in the shelter in place area; do not leave until told to do so.
(b) Initiate "run, hide, fight" response
(c) Evacuate
Evacuation routes and evacuation assembly areas may change depending on the nature and location of the emergency. Follow instructions of NEOMED police, or other first responders.
(i) Evacuate the area.
(ii) Leave all personal belongings behind, unless instructed otherwise.
(iii) Walk without delay, but do not run.
(iv) Assist those with temporary or permanent disabilities needing special assistance evacuating.
(v) Evacuate using the primary evacuation route to your designated outside evacuation assembly area, avoiding dangerous areas.
(vi) Conduct an accountability check of faculty, staff and students by department or class, as appropriate.
(vii) Call 911 to report missing or injured persons.
(viii) Remain at the evacuation assembly area.
(ix) Do not re-enter the building until told to do so by emergency responders.
(9) Testing of the emergency notification system
A test of the NEOMED mass emergency notification system is conducted annually by the department of public safety and/or a designee in the office of public relations and marketing.
Last updated August 13, 2025 at 7:41 AM
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