Parent and Student Emergency Preparedness

 

 

Great Falls College MSUis committed to providing a safe and healthy campus environment for all students, faculty, staff and visitors.  This page provides an overview of campus response to incidents as well as guidelines to prepare for emergencies.


What Happens When an Incident Occurs

Based on the seriousness of the situation, the Campus Leadership may choose to activate Great Falls College MSU’s Emergency Operations Plan which prescribes a comprehensive set of emergency response procedures to deal with crisis situations.

Communication During an Emergency

Emergency messages will be distributed through the Great Falls College MSU website, and the GFC MSU Alert System.

Personalized Family Communication Plan

Staying in contact with family and friends can be critically important during an emergency. Not all ways of communicating will work after a disaster or emergency, so it is imperative to have a plan of how you will communicate.

Staying in contact with family and friends is critical during an emergency.  

  • Designate a single family contact outside your area – be sure family, friends and/or roommates know who this contact is and how to reach them.
  • Notify family or friends if you are affected by an emergency so they know where you are – if you can’t reach them, notify your family contact person.
  • If your phone calls will not go through, consider sending text messages because they can sometimes be sent even when phone calls cannot go through.
  • Social media can be a valuable tool for communication during an emergency.

Remember to check in at home to let your family know you're safe, regularly and especially in an emergency situation. They may have heard about it on the news and be worried about you.

In a very large disaster in the U.S.; if you cannot reach family members, consider using a system such as the American Red Cross Safe and Well List to search for missing family members/friends.  For international disasters use this link.

Consider adding the entry ICE ("in case of emergency") to your cell's phonebook with the number of the person to be contacted in the event of an emergency.

Find out more about developing a Personalized Family Emergency Plan here.

ADDITIONAL EXTERNAL RESOURCES: 
Ready.gov – Family Communications
FEMA – Family Communications Plan Templates

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