Emergency notification system will be tested March 9

Washington University will test its emergency notification system, WUSTLAlerts, at approximately 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, 2011.

The WUSTLAlerts test will take place unless there is the potential for severe weather that day or some other emergency is occurring at that time.

For the test, WUSTLAlerts will send e-mails to @wustl.edu addresses and voice-based messages to cell phones. E-mails will come from WUSTLAlerts@wustl.edu, and voice-based messages will come from (314) 935-9000. Please respond as quickly as possible per the instructions. This will help gauge the effectiveness of the system.

Washington University also will notify the community of the test via the emergency hotline (935-9000 locally or toll-free 888-234-2863) and emergency website (emergency.wustl.edu).

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 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 have already updated their contact information but have more than one cell phone 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,” says Matt Arthur, director of incident communications solutions. “In preparation for the test, now would be a great time to check and update contact information.”

For more information about WUSTLAlerts, e-mail Mark Bagby, emergency management coordinator, at bagbym@wustl.edu.