Policy 670 - Emergency Response and Evacuation

In the event of an emergency, Lower Columbia College (LCC) will follow the procedures outlined in The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The EOP is a comprehensive guide intended to inform and prepare the LCC community for emergencies. The goal in establishing the EOP is to improve the ability of the College to protect lives and property through effective use of College and community resources in emergencies.

The EOP will:

1. specify the procedures the College will use to immediately notify the campus community upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health and safety of students or employees occurring on the campus;
2. include a description of the process the College will use to confirm that there is a significant emergency or dangerous situation, determine the appropriate segment(s) of the campus community to receive a notification, determine the content of the notification, and initiate the notification system;
3. state that the College will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency;
4. include a list of the person(s) or organization(s) responsible for carrying out the actions in subsection 2;
5. state the College’s procedures for disseminating emergency information to the larger community; and
6. state the College’s procedures to test the emergency response and evacuation procedures on at least an annual basis.

Whenever an emergency affecting the College reaches proportions that cannot be handled using routine measures, the College President or designee may declare a state of emergency, and these contingency guidelines may be implemented.

This EOP is flexible in order to facilitate effective management of various and sudden emergencies. This flexibility allows LCC to accommodate the individual magnitude of severity that each emergency may present.

The procedures outlined in the EOP apply to all employees of Lower Columbia College District 13. Exception is given to those employees working at sites governed by other State or Federal agencies including school districts. Those employees are expected to follow direction and procedures as dictated by the specific site.

The goals of planning for emergency response actions are guided by Lower Columbia College’s overriding emergency priorities, to:

1. Safeguard life
2. Stabilize incident
3. Secure critical infrastructure and facilities
4. Assure minimum disruption of educational programs

All personnel assigned specific responsibilities are expected to understand and know the policies and procedures outlined in the EOP.

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Historic Information

• Reviewed - No Changes Needed: January 26, 2022
• Reviewed - No Changes Needed: August 31, 2020
• Approved: March 18, 2020