Recent emergency response exercises to strengthen UIC’s emergency preparedness

Dear students, faculty and staff,

On Dec. 17, the UIC Office of Preparedness and Response, in partnership with UIC Utilities and Energy Services, conducted an announced tabletop and functional exercise on the Chicago campus. This exercise focused on the university’s response capabilities for addressing utility failures with cascading effects on critical university operations.

On Dec. 19, the Office of Preparedness and Response partnered with the UIC College of Medicine Regional Dean’s Office to conduct an announced, discussion-based tabletop exercise at the UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford. This exercise focused on Rockford campus’ prevention and response capabilities for a simulated active shooter or threat scenario.

Both exercises aimed to enhance our university’s preparedness and operational resilience through expert discussions and immersive role-playing. Participants focused on key elements of incident response, including:

• Effectively coordinating and integrating response activities across internal departments and external agencies, ensuring a unified approach to managing an emergency.
• Conducting incident assessments to evaluate the scope and impact of events in order to provide decision-relevant information to decision-makers for guiding response actions.
• Facilitating accurate, timely and coordinated operational communications.
• Synchronizing response efforts and aligning real-time actions with strategic plans.
• Strengthening long-term operational planning for sustained recovery and resource management.

These exercises assessed key components of UIC’s Emergency Operations Plan, with a strategic focus on the roles and responsibilities of the Campus Incident Response Team. The exercises provided valuable opportunities to refine our emergency response capabilities and enhance institutional resilience.

Additionally, UIC ALERT, our emergency notification system, undergoes monthly drills on the first Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. These tests confirm the system’s efficiency and ensure the campus community is familiar with notification methods during emergencies, including for inclement weather or operational curtailments.

Learn more about how to improve your individual preparedness and operational readiness.

Thank you for your commitment to campus safety and resilience.

Karen Colley
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Chancellor’s Emergency Operations Policy Group Co-Chair

John Coronado
Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services
Chancellor’s Emergency Operations Policy Group Co-Chair

David Abraham
Associate Vice Chancellor for Organizational Resilience

For more information, please contact:
UIC Ready
ready@uic.edu