The June 1 start of hurricane season makes emergency preparedness a hot
topic for those of us on the Gulf Coast. But as we all know, emergencies that disrupt our ability to fulfill our mission—and which affect our
families and homes—can happen at any time and at any of our locations throughout the state.
With that in mind, the following is a list of actions you can take now to be ready at work and at home.
Become familiar with your department’s emergency plan and your role in an emergency.
Talk with your supervisor or faculty advisor about your emergency responsibilities and/or procedures for reporting to work/school during an emergency.
Become familiar with UTMB’s Institutional Emergency Operations Plan.
Visit Employee Self Service/Personal Information (access via “Employee Self Serv/Paycheck” link on iUTMB) to check and update the following. This information is vital to our ability to determine who is affected by a particular
emergency, on or off UTMB property. This ensures UTMB knows how to reach you and your personal emergency contacts when needed and supports our efforts to better target emergency-related messages in the future:Your UTMB Directory information—particularly
your work location (L-code)
Your personal information, such as home address and home contact information
Your emergency contacts (the family members or friends UTMB should contact if you become seriously ill or injured at work or if we are unable to reach you during a large-scale emergency)
Know where to get updates. Decisions about UTMB’s operations are communicated in a variety of ways depending on the severity of the emergency, including email to academic program leaders, managers or all employees; the Alerts website;
iUTMB; social media, including I Am UTMB and UTMB Health pages on Facebook and @UTMBHealth on Twitter; and our UTMB Alerts emergency notification service, as appropriate.Check your contact and location information in the UTMB Alerts emergency notification system via
the UTMB Directory. All employees and students are automatically enrolled in UTMB Alerts with their university phone and/or email address. We recommend that you also add your mobile number to receive UTMB Alerts messages via text and/or mobile phone call, to
ensure you get notifications as quickly as possible, no matter where you are. Be sure at least two contact methods are listed for you.
Keep computer security in mind. Never reveal your UTMB login information to anyone, and be suspicious of emails asking you to enter your login information.
WEAR your ID badge every day at all UTMB locations, so University Police, members of the public and, if needed, emergency responders will know you belong.
Enroll in Direct Deposit and MyChart, to ensure access to both your paycheck and your UTMB medical records in an emergency.
Develop an emergency plan for your home that takes into account care and safety of dependents and pets.
UTMB offers a number of emergency preparedness resources to help you plan on the job and at home. Visit www.utmb.edu/emergency_plan to view materials from the 2018 UTMB
Emergency Preparedness Meeting, preparedness checklists, related forms and emergency-related policies. You can also learn more about UTMB’s Institutional Emergency Operations Plan and the business continuity planning process for ensuring our
ability to fulfill our mission, no matter the challenge. The HR Adverse Events Toolkit also provides a number of resources. n