Emergency response procedures will be tested Tuesday

The university will conduct several tests of its emergency response procedures on Tuesday, Sept. 20.  

This is another in a series of safety tests conducted in cooperation with the Waltham Police and Fire Departments, the Brandeis Public Safety Department, and the Office of Communications. The tests will involve the evacuation of several buildings, the testing of the siren system, the telephone public-address system, and the text-message systems. The captains of the buildings to be evacuated have been notified.

What you should expect:

• Starting at about 11 a.m., campus emergency outdoor sirens will be sounded intermittently in various zones on campus. The siren will sound for about three minutes each time. The full testing of the siren system across campus should take approximately 30 minutes. If this were a real emergency, upon hearing the siren you would seek shelter and look for further instructions. In a real emergency, this information would be provided on university telephones (voice and text messages), via email and the text-messaging option on your cell phone (if registered) and on the university homepage and news page. If you have not already done so, we strongly encourage everyone in the community to register their cell phone to receive emergency text messages. Students can do this through Sage; faculty and staff through BUSS.

• You will receive a short text and voice message on your Brandeis University telephone (if applicable) and your personal cell phone (if registered) informing you that Brandeis is testing its emergency systems.

• You will be notified of the test on the university home page and news page.

• The all-clear chimes will sound outdoors. All-clear signals will be sent over the emergency broadcast systems, including Brandeis telephones and registered cell phones.