Annex A: Warning

Dallas College Support Annex A – Warning

This Emergency Operations Plan Annex is hereby approved for the Dal​las College. This plan annex is effective immediately and supersedes all previous editions.

To ensure timeliness of warning, the authority to activate the college’s emergency notification systems for time sensitive events has been delegated to campus commanders and marketing. The college’s Central Dispatch will ensure distribution of the warnings. Activation of Timely Warnings in accordance with criminal acts as established by the Clery Act are delegated to the Chief of Police.

For additional, see Emergency Operations Plan, Authority.

This Support Annex to the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) provides a comprehensive list of requirements and procedures for the college’s emergency operations in providing warning capability for the campus community.

Purpose

The purpose of this annex is to outline the college’s organization, operational concepts, responsibilities, and procedures to disseminate timely and accurate warnings to the students, faculty, and staff in the event of an impending emergency.

Scope

The functions of the Warning support annex are applied to emergency incidents, operational notifications, and other situations in which warnings to the campus community might be issued.

Situation

• The college should expect to experience emergencies that could threaten campus health and safety, private and public property, and necessitate the implementation of protective actions for the campus.
• Emergencies can occur at any time; therefore, equipment and procedures to warn the campus of impending emergencies should be in place and ready to use at any time.
• Power outages may disrupt network, public address, cellular, radio, and television systems that carry warning messages and provide campus instructions.

Assumptions

• Timely warnings of impending emergencies to the campus, or those that have occurred, may: Save lives, decrease the numbers, and/or severity of injuries, and may reduce some types of property damage.
• The college’s emergency alert notification vendor is the primary source of information for the college.
• There may be delays in receiving critical information to be processed during public safety emergencies.
• Emergency broadcast warnings may require initial activation with limited information and providing general direction in the case of immediate danger from a no-notice hazard (i.e., active shooter).
• Some individuals, directly threatened by a hazard and despite the college’s best efforts, may ignore, not hear, or not understand warnings issued by the college.
• Provisions must be made to provide warnings to functional and access needs groups such as the hearing and sight-impaired.

The Dallas College LWP (Local Warning Point) is located and operated in the Dallas College Central Police Dispatch Center), which operates around the clock. The Dallas College LWP will receive communications from Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS). The Dallas College LWP receives warning of actual or potential emergency situations from a variety of sources, including federal and state agencies, local officials, and the news media. The LWP will verify warning information, where necessary, and disseminate pertinent information to specific officials and departments.

The college may receive inbound warnings of actual emergencies or the threat of such situations from the following:

National and State Provided Inbound Warning

National Warning System

The National Warning System (NAWAS) is a 24-hour nationwide, dedicated, multiple line, telephone warning system linking federal agencies and the states. It disseminates civil emergency warnings. NAWAS is a voice communications system operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Department of Homeland Security, and controlled from the FEMA EOC in Washington, D.C., and the FEMA alternate EOC in Olney, Maryland. NAWAS is used to disseminate three types of civil emergency warnings to state and local governments:

1. Attack warnings
2. Fallout warnings
3. Natural and technological emergency warnings

Warnings from the FEMA operations center are coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security operations center and relayed through the FEMA Regional Communications Center in Denton to the state warning point at the State Operations Center (SOC) in Austin. The state warning point further disseminates the civil emergency warnings through the Texas Warning System. The FEMA national radio system, a network of high frequency radios, serves as a backup for NAWAS.

Texas Warning System

The Texas Warning System (TEWAS) is a state level extension of NAWAS. It consists of a dedicated telephone warning system linking the state warning point at the SOC (State Operations Center) with area warning centers located in DPS offices around the state and with the seven NWS offices in Texas.

The state warning point relays national emergency warnings received on NAWAS to the area warning center using TEWAS. Area warning centers disseminate warnings they receive to LWPs via teletype messages on the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS). The college will receive warnings through the Dallas College central dispatch center.

TEWAS may also be used by the SOC to disseminate warning messages from the governor or other key state officials to specific regions of the state.

Homeland Security Information Network

The Homeland Security Information Network – Critical Infrastructure (HSIN-CI) is an unclassified network that immediately provides the Department of Homeland Security operations center with one-stop 24/7 access to a broad spectrum of industries, agencies, and critical infrastructure across both the public and private sectors. HSIN-CI delivers information sharing, alert notification services to the right people, those that need to know and those that need to act. The college will receive these warnings through the fusion liaison or intelligence officer in the college’s Public Safety and Security department.

National Weather Service Provided Inbound Warning

National Weather Service (NWS) weather forecast offices, the NWS river forecast centers, the Storm Prediction Center, and the National Hurricane Center issue weather warning messages.

NWS disseminates weather forecasts, watches, and warnings via the NOAA Weather Wire Service, which is a satellite communications system that broadcasts to specialized receiver terminals. In Texas, NWS weather products, such as watches and warnings, are transmitted by NOAA Weather Wire to the SOC. The SOC, as the state warning point, retransmits these weather messages to appropriate area warning centers and LWPs by TLETS and email.

The college receives alerts directly from the NWS through the NOAA all-hazards radio system and TLETS

Campus Community Provided Inbound Warning

The students, faculty, staff, and guests of the college may provide warning of emergencies discovered. This may occur in person, by phone, or through the 9-1-1 system. As soon as this information in received by the college, details should be reported to the college LWP through any available means of communications to allow for timely confirmation and warning.

Business and Industry Provided Inbound Warning

Companies that experience a major fire, explosion, hazardous materials spill, or other emergencies that may pose a threat to campus health, safety, and property have a general duty to notify local officials of such occurrences. Such notifications are generally made through the 9-1-1 system. Companies reporting emergencies that may pose a risk to the campus are expected to recommend appropriate actions to protect people and property.

Warnings will be disseminated for immediate threats to the campus community. In the initial stages of an emergency situation, the Dallas College Police Commander overseeing central or designee will, with the authority delegated to the position:

• Determine if a warning needs to be issued.
• Formulate a warning (using pre-scripted messages if available).
• Disseminate the warning.

When the EOC has been activated, it will normally determine who needs to be warned and how. The EOC will normally formulate the warning messages and public instructions. The EMC or designee in the activated EOC staff will execute the warnings by activating the warning system. The EOC may disseminate emergency public information directly to the media.

The systems described in this annex will be used to issue warnings and instructions to the public. To facilitate dissemination of warning and public instructions, a set of pre-scripted warning messages and public information messages suitable for use in likely emergency situations has been developed.

Dallas College Alerts

The college’s official emergency notification system is branded as the “Dallas College Alerts” system. This system is a framework of multiple products owned or contracted by the college to create a seamless, multi-modal, and segmented medium to reduce points of failure and deliver appropriate situational messages and is compliant with requirements of the Jeanne Clery Act 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f) as well as Texas Education Code § 51.218 – Emergency Alert System. Not all emergencies require whole-system activation and system delivery options include, but are not limited to:

• Text messaging
• Network Computers
• Digital Signage
• Website
• Social media
• Email
• Public Address Audio Broadcast
  

Text Message and Email Notification Function

Text messaging is a rapid means of notification for the college. Messages sent by this method are college-wide and may only be targeted to all employees, all students, or both. Text messages may be sent during immediate emergencies, for campus delays or closures, to relay critical information to the campus population, or during system tests. Text messaging and email notifications enrollment is automatic upon registration or employment unless the student, faculty, or staff opts out of system enrollment. External agencies, such as food service and bookstore staff, who are contract services operating on college property are offered external agency enrollment in order to receive messaging.

The email functionality of the “Dallas College Alerts” system is designed to be supplemental to the immediate notification of text messaging. Email may be used for supplementing immediate alerts, notification of upcoming system testing by other means, campus delays or closures, to relay critical information to the campus population, or during system tests. Notification by email may experience significant delays as large numbers of emails may take systems time to process and deliver.

Social Media Notification Function

Social media notifications are supplementary functions of the alert system. Utilizing social media messaging, the college may reach beyond the student and employee population to include guests on campus, the public, and the media. Notification by social media may be made for immediate alerts, notification of upcoming system testing, campus delays or closures, to relay critical information to the campus population, or during system tests.

Outdoor Warning

Any outdoor warning systems in place on or near college facilities are outdoor sirens operated by the college, local city or county officials respective to their location.

Route Alerting & Door-to-Door Warning

The campus community may be warned by route alerting using vehicles equipped with sirens and public address systems. Route alerting may not work well in some areas, including remote areas where there is some distance from the road or for large buildings with few external windows. Response personnel going door-to-door may also deliver warnings. Both of these methods are effective in delivering warnings, but they are labor-intensive and time-consuming and may be infeasible for large areas. The route alerting method may be required for those with impairments of vision or hearing. Phone trees may be utilized to activate route and door-to-door warning from critical areas.

Warning Special Facilities and Populations

Special populations and facilities will be warned of emergency situations by available methods to include:

• Visually-impaired: text-to-speech broadcast, route alerting, door-to-door notification.
• Hearing-impaired: SMS text message, digital signage override, route alerting, door-to-door notification.
• Non-English speaking: Route alerting, door-to-door notification.

Clery Compliance in Warning

The college will establish and maintain its emergency notification system in compliance with Texas Education Code Sec. 51.218 and the Jeanne Clery Act 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f).

Decisions for timely warning notifications of Clery defined crimes will be made by the Chief of Police by utilizing the Timely Warning Notice Determination form as directed by the college’s Department of Public Safety and Security SOPs.

Timely warnings for imminent threats to campus safety for all other situations will be made by Dallas College central dispatch. Notification method and scope may be determined by the following decision criteria:

Hazard Type

• What is the hazard? (Building fire, tornado, hazardous materials incident)
• What is the impact to the college? (Minor, major, catastrophic)
• What is the potential for the situation to worsen?
• Is the situation under control?

Life Safety and Property Protection

• What is the potential for death?
• What is the potential for serious injury?
• What is the potential for minor injury?
• What is the potential for damage to property?
• What is the potential for disruption to normal course of business?

Urgency

• How soon does the message need to go out? (Seconds, hours, days)

Audience

• Who needs to be warned? (Administration, faculty, staff, students, guests)
• How many people need to be warned? (Dozens, hundreds, thousands)

System(s) Capabilities

• What are the limitations of each system? (Limited audience, lengthy delivery time)
• How quickly can the messages be sent? (Immediately, minutes, hours)

Responsibilities

The EMC has the responsibility for ensuring an adequately trained and tested operational capability as outlined in this annex.

All individuals or departments responsible for staffing a position during an emergency, operating within an ESF, or providing support to emergency operations, are responsible for cooperating and assisting the EMC by making staff available to participate to the fullest extent possible in testing, training, and exercise activities.

Acronyms

Definitions