OCC has an emergency management plan designed to ensure there is a timely and effective response in the event of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on campus involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of members of the campus community. Such situations include, but are not limited to tornadoes, bomb threats, chemical spills, disease outbreaks, fires, active shooters, etc. OCC has communicated with the Joplin Police Department requesting their cooperation in informing the College about situations reported to them that may warrant an emergency response. Students, staff and visitors are encouraged to notify OCC Security (417-626-1200) of any situation that poses such a threat.
The on-scene Incident Command Team Leader (Damien Spikereit, 417-680-5620) in conjunction if possible with the Vice President of Student Affairs (Andy Storms, 417-626-1225) and the Senior Director of Campus Safety (Monte Shoemake, 417-626-1208) will access available sources of information from campus administrative staff and local authorities to confirm the existence of the danger and will be responsible for initiating the college’s response and for marshaling the appropriate local emergency response authorities for assistance. Depending on the nature of the emergency, other college departments may be involved in the confirmation process.
Once the emergency is confirmed, the college community, or appropriate segments of it, will be notified. The Incident Command Team, in collaboration with other appropriate personnel, will determine who should be notified and will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency. Depending on the segments of the campus the notification will target, the content of the notification may differ. When appropriate, the content of the notification will be determined in consultation with local authorities. In addition, as appropriate, the notification will give guidance as to whether its recipients should shelter in place or evacuate their location.
The Vice President of Student Affairs will direct the issuance of emergency notifications, which will be accomplished using one or more of the following means, depending on the nature of the threat and the segment of the campus community being threatened. Students and faculty/staff members do not need to sign-up to be included in the emergency notification systems below (with the exception of text messages as the OCCAlerts is an opt-in notification system).
• Emails
• Text messages (through the OCCAlerts system)
• College website
• Posted notices
• Local media sources
The Communications Director (Amy Storms, 417-626-1227) or designee will disseminate
emergency information to the campus community and the larger community; that is those outside of the campus community.
Follow‐up notices/communications will be provided as necessary during an active incident and may be provided by the Executive Director of Administration, the Vice President of Student Affairs or the Communication Director. When a threat is neutralized or effectively removed, campus community members will be appropriately informed via all or some of the aforementioned communications methods.
The college tests various emergency response and evacuation procedures each year. Also, at various times the Emergency Management Team will meet to train and test and evaluate the college’s emergency response plan. The Senior Director of Campus Safety maintains records of these tests and training exercises, including a description of them, the dates and times they were held and an indication of whether they were announced or unannounced. In connection with at least one such test, the college will distribute to its students and employees information to remind them of the college’s emergency response and evacuation procedures.