Emergency Protocols

Our emergency protocols include:

1. Ohio Wesleyan is implementing the Connect-ED® emergency contact system to allow administrators and Public Safety officials to notify the campus community of urgent situations via simultaneous telephone, e-mail, and text messages.
2. Any member of the Ohio Wesleyan community is able to use the campus e-mail system to send an urgent group message to all students, faculty, and staff.
3. Emergency calling trees exist in multiple areas, including the use of cellular telephones to ensure contact with key individuals.
4. OWU’s Public Safety Department, located in the center of our residential community, provides 24-hour safety services.
5. A Residential Life staff member is available at all times to respond to emergency situations within residential facilities. Emergency coverage is provided by on-call, full-time Residential Life Coordinators who live in the residence halls and by Resident Assistants and Moderators who also live within the facilities.
6. Eight emergency call boxes exist on campus that connect directly to OWU’s Public Safety Department. A light on top of each call box is activated when a call is placed.
7. OWU uses an enhanced 911 system that immediately reports the location of any non-cellular (land-line) telephone call to Delaware Police Dispatch, as well as to the OWU Public Safety Department.
8. 911 calls made from campus using cellular telephones are answered by the Delaware County 911 Dispatch Center, which is able to track the caller’s location and share it with city safety forces.
9. All Delaware City Police and Fire vehicles and OWU Public Safety vehicles are equipped with external speaker systems to allow rapid voice notification of urgent information.
10. The Ohio Wesleyan Web site can be used to post information nearly instantaneously.
11. Public safety and emergency protocols are outlined during student orientation and reinforced during residence hall building and floor meetings. Emergency signage also is posted on every residential hall door.
12. Word of mouth is one of the strongest information vehicles on the close-knit OWU campus. Person-to-person communication will augment any telephone and instant message chains that share emergency information.