When an emergency occurs, there is often little time to respond. We urge all students, faculty and staff members to prepare for emergencies now to preserve their safety later. Review the Emergency Resources Guide available at {http://wwwnew.towson.edu/emergencyguide} and keep it in a safe place where you can refer to it quickly if necessary. If an emergency occurs and you don?t have access to the guide, remembering just one simple word, RAIN, can help to save your life.
RAIN stands for respond, assess, isolate and notify – four simple steps that will help guide you in any emergency situation.
Respond – When an emergency occurs, you must first respond, taking the necessary immediate steps to minimize your risk in the emergency at hand. It is important that you remain calm and respond quickly and appropriately to the situation at hand. Absent of any instruction from emergency responders or other campus authorities, use the knowledge gained from the Emergency Resources Guide to respond in a manner most appropriate to the situation at hand.
Assess – After your initial response, take a moment to assess the situation. Follow the instruction of emergency responders or other campus authorities. Absent that instruction, use your best judgment and knowledge gained from the Emergency Resources Guide to move forward in an appropriate manner. Consider the following:
? Has the danger stopped?
? Is it safer for me to stay where I am or move to another location? Often your instincts may tell you to move when it?s safer to shelter in place.
Isolate – Once you have assessed the situation, attempt to isolate yourself from the danger in the safest and fastest way possible. Ways of isolation include:
? In the event of a tornado or high wind, go to an interior room on the lowest level of a building and stay away from any windows
? In the case of a fire, remove yourself from the building
? In the case of a hazardous material release, remove yourself from the hazardous material and go to a safe environment, either indoors or off-campus.
? In the case of an active shooter in your building, leave the building if it is safe to do so. If not, shelter in place by barricading yourself in your room and hunkering down near the same wall as the door.
Use your instinct to determine how to safely isolate yourself from danger, and make sure to follow instructions from campus authorities via the emergency text message alerts or campus siren and alarm system at all times. Don?t attempt to move if doing so will place you in greater danger than you are already in.
Notify – Once you are isolated from danger, use a cell phone, telephone, or emergency blue light phone to notify the authorities of the situation. Call the campus police at 410-704-2133 or dial 911 for medical or fire assistance.
For more information on responding to emergencies, go to the campus Emergency Resources Guide at {http://wwwnew.towson.edu/emergencyguide} or the Emergency Preparedness Web site at {www.towson.edu/emergencypreparedness}. All members of the campus community are also encouraged to register for emergency text message alerts at {http://www.towson.edu/textalerts}.
