Evacuation Instructions and Responsibilities
What to do
- Learn where the fire pull stations and fire extinguishers are located.
- Know which ways to get out of a building and where to meet up after you evacuate.
- Always leave a building during a drill or real alarm.*
- Close, but do no lock doors to rooms that are in alarm.
- Stay out of a building if the alarm is sounding.
- Go to your assembly point.
*Refusal to evacuate is a safety violation subject to non-academic disciplinary protocols.
- Only go back inside when Campus Security or the Calgary Fire Department gives the all-clear at the assembly point or over the PA system.
- If needed, debrief and talk about what went well and what could be better, then email Emergency Management with your feedback.
Responsibilities
Follow all evacuation protocols above.
Preemptively ensure that your students/staff:
- are aware of the annual campus-wide evacuation drills schedule;
- understand the evacuation instructions above;
- know about the Emergency Buddy Program.
Specifically:
- review UCalgary's emergency plans and procedures with your students/staff;
- encourage download and use of the UCSafety app;
- proactively assign 2-3 “buddies” to assist people with a disability during emergency incidents;
- ensure Hazard Identification Assessment and Control Form (HACF) for your staff is completed and documented annually (part of annual inspection process).
Frequently Asked Questions
The following buildings on campus have a two stage alarm:
- Taylor Family Digital Library
- Cal Wenzel Precision Health
- Health Research Innovation Centre
- MacKimmie Tower
- Hunter Student Commons
- Scurfield Hall
- Mathison Hall
The floor that the alarm originates from will go into an immediate evacuation, there will not be a standby/alert alarm for that floor. Follow the broadcast voice instructions.
The remainder of the building will be on a standby/alert alarm and should prepare for evacuation. This standby/alert alarm may be in effect for a longer period of time than has been experienced previously. This will continue until the Fire Department has investigated, determined no cause for evacuation and silenced the alarm or has determined there is cause and the evacuation alarm is activated.
If a device on another floor from the original one is activated, that floor also will go into an evacuation alarm (e.g. the alarm originates on the third floor of TFDL and afterwards another one is activated on the fourth floor.)
A full building evacuation can be implemented by Campus Security or the Calgary Fire Department when required.
As you are evacuating, close all doors behind you to limit the movement of smoke, flames, or noxious odors. Fire separation doors will close automatically when the alarm is activated. A fire door is a door with a fire-resistance rating used as part of a passive fire protection system to reduce the spread of fire and smoke between separate compartments of a structure and to enable safe egress from a building. Fire separation doors should never be propped oven with a door wedge or other object.
Safe evacuation procedures require evacuees to move away from the building to a safe, secure location.
Assembly points provide:
- Shelter from the elements
- Access to washrooms
- Access to food
- A point of communication for first responders and evacuees to:
- Exchange relevant information about the incident including:
- Nature and severity of the incident
- Expected duration of evacuation
- Official/approved time of building re-entry
- Exchange relevant information about the incident including:
Everyone should know the assembly point location for the building they occupy. This information should also be included in student and department orientations so everyone in the building is aware of the assembly point for their building.
An "all clear" message will be broadcast from the building PA system as well as from emergency responders to evacuate the crowd. All information will be shared at the assembly point.
The most efficient way to communicate information about an incident is through the UCSafety app.