The Great BC ShakeOut, the province-wide emergency preparedness event, took place on the morning of October 19, 2017. People across BC were encouraged to practice how to Drop! Cover! and Hold On! during an earthquake.
Every year, the UVic Emergency Communications Group (ECG) uses this event to practice its emergency communications processes and tools. Committee members are drawn from Campus Security, University Communications + Marketing and University Systems. Technology plays an important role in the ECG’s operations. For the 2017 Great BC ShakeOut:
- The Emergency Notification System (ENS), a system built in-house by UVic Online in 2014, sent out more than 32,000 emails, 16,000 text messages, posted to Twitter and broadcast an audio alert through on-campus VOIP telephones.
- Cascade, the central web Content Management System, was used to publish a test advisory onto every www.uvic.ca webpage and manage emergency-specific web content.
- Campus digital displays ran a video, calling for people to Drop! Cover! and Hold On!
Get prepared for The Big One. The Emergency Planning website can help you get started.
To ensure you receive alerts in an emergency, keep your contact information up-to-date in My Page.