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Security Main Page

Are you prepared?

Review your office plan and decide now who will do what, when, and how if a storm threatens.  Designate back-up personnel for these assignments.  Put a staff member in charge of emergency supplies.  Batteries, plastic sheeting, masking tape, and other materials for protecting your equipment may be purchased through Physical Plant from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday in room B026 (Basement) of the Rosenstiel Building.

Departments must provide a Physical Plant Work Order or an Interdepartmental Requisition (IDR) with a funding account upon receipt of supplies.  There should be no need to replenish these supplies every year unless there has been a storm, but please check battery expiration dates.

Make and distribute a hurricane communication plan "telephone tree" for your office.  Include numbers for home and cellular phones, pagers, and the Medical School's 24-hour Rumor Control Hotline (305) 243-6079.  All employees should have copies of the plan and telephone tree at work and home.

Your office plan should specify the following actions when a storm warning is posted:

• Clear desktops of paper and other articles.

• Cover books, files, and equipment with plastic and secure it with masking tape. 

• Move furniture away from windows.

• Close and latch both windows and doors.

• Disconnect electrical equipment including lights, air conditioners, microwaves, etc.

• Place glassware and other fragile items in a protected location.

• Remove all personal items from campus buildings.

• Arrange for freezer storage of frozen cells and tissues. (Contact Security or Physical Plant for the most up-to-date information about emergency freezer storage space.)

The Medical School's Disaster Recovery Plan may also provide useful information during your preparation.

During the Storm

Seek Shelter

The Medical Center is not a designated hurricane shelter.  Within a few hours before a storm is forecast to strike, entrances to all campus buildings will be secured and card access systems will be deactivated to prevent reentry.  If you are stranded on campus during an emergency, please go to the entrance of the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building closest to Park Plaza West, where security personnel will give you further instructions.

Keep informed through the Rumor Control Hotline: (305) 243-6079.  

If you have any questions during an emergency or need to clarify any rumors you may click to our Rumor Control Web Page or call the Rumor Control Hotline at (305) 243-6079.  This line will be equipped with an automated message 24 hours a day.  At the end of the message, if your questions have not been answered, press "0" or remain on the line to be transferred to a security operator.  This number will provide the most up-to-date information about the status of the school.  Instructions received directly from your supervisor or designee, or through the Rumor Control Hotline, must take precedence over announcements made by the media.

After the Storm Passes

Get in touch:

As soon as you can get to a working phone call your supervisor or designee to inform him or her your status and where you can be reached.  Physicians and clinical personnel may be called to work before the University officially re-opens for business.  Some staff members will be assigned to work during the storm or immediately after.

Get help or offer it: 

Employees wishing to help those in need may call UM Volunteers Services at (305) 284-4483.

Get medical attention: 

Do not go to a hospital emergency room unless you're suffering from a serious or life threatening injury or illness.  Instead, call your primary care doctor or nearest urgent care center. 

Keep informed when you return to work:

Our  Rumor Control Bulletin Board will carry constant updates.  Check it frequently.  The Public Relations office publishes special editions of "Hurricane Update" with the latest information.  Look for it in interoffice mail, by fax, and posted at various locations through out the school.