Emergency Operations Management

Critical incidents are those situations that have the potential to cause large scale injuries or loss of lives, loss of material resources, major disruption to the campus community, and/or special liability issues for the campus. In order to successfully manage these incidents, the campus administration will use a systematic approach.

The management of many of these incidents will begin with the efforts of emergency services agencies (police, fire, medical). These agencies utilize the Incident Command System (ICS) to coordinate and command the work done at the scene of incidents at which more than one agency is involved. The use of ICS by emergency services is a universal standard method of operation today. The emergency services are responsible for containing and isolating the incident, rescuing victims, and protecting the scene of the incident.

When an incident increases in scope to one that meets the campus definition of a critical incident, a Campus Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) comprised of representatives designated by the Chancellor will be established. The CEOC Committee is responsible for major policy decisions for managing the consequences of the critical incident within the campus community and mobilizing the resources and support needed for the emergency services operation, directing the institutional response to the incident, managing the recovery from the incident, and holding a critique and debriefing after the critical incident. The CEOC and incident command communicate and coordinate all actions during critical incidents involving the campus. The CEOC Committee may request other University personnel identified as having expertise in particular areas to advise and/or participate in any given University emergency.

The management of a very large critical incident may require the resources of the wider community, and possibly county, state, or national organization. In such cases, there may be several local emergency operations centers like the CEOC. This may include a Champaign County emergency operations center and a federal emergency operations center. University representatives will be required to staff some of these additional work groups in order to ensure close coordination throughout the system. The incident management system used by the UIUC campus has been designed to integrate with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which is the universal model now used by the State of Illinois and federal agencies.

Declaration of a Critical Incident

Upon becoming aware of an incident that may be considered “critical,” any member of the CEOC Core Group may initiate the declaration process by notifying the Division of Public Safety communications center at 333-1216. The communications center will arrange an immediate conference call among this core group. This shall include senior representatives from the following:

  • Office of the Chancellor
  • Office of the Provost
  • Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
  • Vice Chancellor for Research
  • Division of Public Safety
  • Facilities & Services Division
  • Office of Public Affairs

The decision to declare an incident “critical” will be made by the representatives available to participate in this immediate discussion, with the Office of the Chancellor exercising the final authority. This group will also determine the initial CEOC staff and designate the location for the committee to assemble.

Once a declaration of a critical incident has been made, the Division of Public Safety communications center will contact the units responsible for providing staff to the CEOC, and will direct the responders to the designated CEOC location. Once assembled, the CEOC group will identify a coordinator based on the nature of the event. The CEOC will normally be staffed by representatives of the following organizations:

  • Office of the Chancellor
  • Office of the Provost
  • Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
  • Vice Chancellor for Research
  • Public Safety Division
  • Public Affairs
  • Facilities & Services Division
  • Campus Legal Counsel
  • Deans, Directors, Department Heads as requested

Possible additional participants—the following units may be asked to participate based upon the type of incident:

  • Other University units directly involved in the incident
  • Urbana Fire Department
  • Champaign Fire Department
  • Other government or service agencies as needed