Washington University in St. Louis will test its emergency communication system at 10 a.m. March 4. The test ensures that the university can effectively communicate with the community in an emergency. The test will take place unless there is the potential for severe weather that day or some other emergency is occurring at that time.
During the test, WashUAlerts will send emails to @wustl.edu addresses, voice calls to campus phones and cellphones, and text messages to cellphones. Emails will come from WashUAlerts@wustl.edu, while voice calls and text messages from 314-935-9000.
The March 4 drill will include testing of WashU’s yellow Alertus beacons, which are located in various large gathering spaces, common areas and classrooms. University computers with the proper software, indoor address systems, Voice over Fire Alarm systems, cable TV overrides (Danforth Campus only), the WUSTL app, the WashU Safe app and the RSS feed to the emergency website also will be tested.
Students, faculty and staff 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.
University community members who have more than one cellphone or pager number are encouraged to log in and include all numbers in their HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS profile.
If you wish to opt out of certain methods of communications, such as personal cellphone or home phone, visit the emergency website. Note that some contact methods cannot be removed. Additional information about the WashUAlerts system is also on the site.
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to visit emergency.wustl.edu and learn more about how to prepare for and respond to severe weather and other emergencies. Email Emergency Management at WashUReady@wustl.edu with questions about the drill.
Comments and respectful dialogue are encouraged, but content will be moderated. Please, no personal attacks, obscenity or profanity, selling of commercial products, or endorsements of political candidates or positions. We reserve the right to remove any inappropriate comments. We also cannot address individual medical concerns or provide medical advice in this forum.