Washington University in St. Louis will test its emergency communication system, WUSTLAlerts, at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19. The test will take place unless there is the potential for severe weather that day or some other emergency is occurring at that time.
For this test, WUSTLAlerts will send emails to @wustl.edu addresses and an automated recording to cellphones. Emails will come from WUSTLAlerts@wustl.edu. Please respond as quickly as possible, per the instructions, as that will help the university gauge the effectiveness of the system.
The March 19 drill will include testing of WUSTL’s yellow Alertus beacons, which are located in various large gathering spaces, common areas and classrooms. Also to be tested will be the university’s desktop pop-ups on computers that have the software installed; indoor public address systems; cable TV override on the Danforth Campus; and the RSS feed to the emergency website. For more information on many of these emergency communications methods, visit here.
Washington University also will notify the community of the test via the emergency hotline (314-935-9000 locally or toll-free 888-234-2863) and emergency website.
In the event of an actual emergency, the emergency website and hotline will be updated regularly to provide information to the WUSTL community.
WUSTL community members are strongly encouraged to enter or update their contact information via HRMS and WebSTAC/SIS. The university uses the information in HRMS and WebSTAC/SIS to contact individuals when necessary in an emergency.
WUSTL community members who already have updated their contact information but have more than one cellphone or pager number are encouraged to log in and include all numbers in their HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS profile.
“In an emergency, WUSTLAlerts will use the contact information in HRMS and WebSTAC,” said Matt Arthur, director of incident communications solutions. “In preparation for the test, now would be a great time to check and update contact information.”
WUSTL students, faculty and staff also are encouraged to visit emergency.wustl.edu and learn more about how to prepare for and respond to severe weather and other emergencies.
“Having knowledge of what to do or where to go in case of emergencies when at home or at WUSTL is crucial for the safety of the Washington University community,” said Mark Bagby, director of emergency management.
For more information about the March 19 drill, email Bagby at bagbym@wustl.edu.