Emergency Preparedness Terms to Know
Terms and Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| All Clear | A message provided by safety officials that indicates the threat or dangerous situation has been managed. This message will be sent viaMines Alert, code blue towers,by public address systems or by first responders. |
| Armed Suspect or Active Harmer | An individual who may be carrying a weapon that poses a threat to people on campus. |
| Bomb or Bomb Threat | The explosion of a bomb or a credible report of the existence of a bomb that can create an environment that threatens campus safety. |
| Campus Closed | When "campus closed" is announced, only residents and those employees identified as critical or essential will remain on campus. All other faculty, staff and students must depart campus. No one should return until we have announced a return to normal operations. Campus shuttles will be stopped. Continue to monitor mines.edu/ emergency for updates. |
| Evacuation | The movement of individuals from a specific, potentially dangerous or threatened area to a safer location. |
| Lockdown | Lockdown is when Mines disables the electronic access points and places exterior doors into a locked mode. During a lockdown, Blaster Cards will not work on card readers, though emergency responders will have means of entering buildings. People can still exit the building if instructed to leave a building. If campus goes into a lockdown mode, people who are outside will need to evacuate campus because they will not be able to enter campus buildings. If you are away from campus, do not come to campus until notified that campus has resumed normal operations. A lockdown could be used for an active harmer, suspicious person, suspicious package, threat made to campus or significant chemical release. |
| Mines Alert | The emergency mass notification system used at Colorado School of Mines to send emergency messages to the campus community. Mines Alert messages are sent out by trained Mines staff. Mines Alerts provide meaningful and actionable emergency information to every Oredigger in a timely manner. The Mines Alert system is capable of sending text messages, voice messages and emails to staff, faculty and students. Social media and public address systems are additional notification tools. |
| Police Activity | Significant activity by law enforcement and other emergency response personnel. |
| Run - Hide - Fight | A crisis response method for protecting people during an active harmer situation. RUN: if there is a way to escape the threat and you are reasonably sure you can do so without being harmed. HIDE: if evacuation is not possible. Quickly find the most secure area available, lock doors and windows (if possible), turn off lights (if possible), silence cell phones, and remain quiet and out of view. FIGHT: as a last resort, if your life is in imminent danger. Use improvised weapons such as a fire extinguisher or chair, and commit to taking down the attacker, no matter what. |
| Shelter in Place | Shelter in place means finding (or move to) a safe location indoors and staying there until you are given an "all clear" or told to evacuate. You can seek shelter in any location during an emergency - go into an office, bathroom, etc. You may be asked to shelter in place because of an active shooter, tornado, or chemical, radiological, or other hazard. Specific instructions will be provided depending upon the situation. |
| Suspicious Package | This is an item of concern that seems out of place. Do not approach or touch these items, put some distance between you and the object and call 911. A notification of a suspicious package will be include "avoid the area." |