Library Student Colleagues: Emergency Procedures

In the event that you feel uncomfortable at work, please reach out to your supervisor or student staff coordinator for assistance.

Please rely on your trauma-informed care training as well as the Crisis Prevention Institutes Top 10 De-Escalation tips:

1. Be Empathic and Nonjudgmental
   Do not judge or be dismissive of the feelings of the person in distress. Remember that the person’s feelings are real, whether or not you think those feelings are justified. Respect those feelings.


2. Respect Personal Space
   Be aware of your position, posture, and proximity when interacting with a person in distress. Allowing personal space shows respect, keeps you safer, and tends to decrease a person’s anxiety.


3. Use Nonthreatening Nonverbals
   The more a person is in distress, the less they hear your words—and the more they react to your nonverbal communication. Be mindful of your gestures, facial expressions, movements, and tone of voice. Keeping your tone and body language neutral will go a long way toward defusing a situation.


4. Keep Your Emotional Brain in Check
   Remain calm, rational, and professional. While you can’t control the person’s behavior, how you respond to their behavior will have a direct effect on whether the situation escalates or defuses. Positive thoughts like “I can handle this” and “I know what to do” will help you maintain your own rationality and calm the person down.


5. Focus on Feelings
   Facts are important, but how a person feels is the heart of the matter. Yet some people have trouble identifying how they feel about what’s happening to them. Watch and listen carefully for the person’s real message. Try saying something like “That must be scary.” Supportive words like these will let the person know that you understand what’s happening—and you may get a positive response.


6. Ignore Challenging Questions
   Engaging with people who ask challenging questions is rarely productive. When a person challenges your authority, redirect their attention to the issue at hand. Ignore the challenge, but not the person. Bring their focus back to how you can work together to solve the problem.


7. Set Limits
   As a person progresses through a crisis, give them respectful, simple, and reasonable limits. Offer concise and respectful choices and consequences. A person who’s upset may not be able to focus on everything you say. Be clear, speak simply, and offer the positive choice first.


8. Choose Wisely What You Insist Upon
   It’s important to be thoughtful in deciding which rules are negotiable and which are not. If you can offer a person options and flexibility, you may be able to avoid unnecessary altercations.


9. Allow Silence for Reflection
   We’ve all experienced awkward silences. While it may seem counterintuitive to let moments of silence occur, sometimes it’s the best choice. It can give a person a chance to reflect on what’s happening, and how they need to proceed. Silence can be a powerful communication tool.


10. Allow Time for Decisions
    When a person is upset, they may not be able to think clearly. Give them a few moments to think through what you’ve said. A person’s stress rises when they feel rushed. Allowing time brings calm.

• Staff are not responsible for removal of patrons, only for informing building patrons of the event.

• In all cases personal safety is the primary concern.

• Do not use elevators. If you are on an elevator, get off at the next floor immediately.

• Keep calm, do not show panic or agitation.

• Issue directions calmly but firmly.

• Familiarize yourself with all emergency exits in all areas where you work.

In the event of a building safety hazard; for example, a burst pipe, shattered glass, broken furniture, or falling decor, please call Campus Safety and SNC Facilities immediately. Please inform your supervisor of the incident and the action you took.

When the CENS alerts you to severe weather, please make an announcement on the Library PA system and direct all patrons away from windows and to the basement stairwell. If the power is out and the elevator is not working, please advise anyone with physical disabilities to wait in the nearest stairwell for emergency personnel. Close the first floor stairwell doors (keep an eye out for Ed's staff) and remain in the basement stairwell until the severe weather has expired and you are alerted.

When the fire alarm goes off, the stairwell doors will close to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the building. The elevators will not work. Please make an announcement on the PA system to direct library patrons to the nearest stairwell to evacuate. Please advise anyone with physical disabilities to move to the nearest stairwell and wait for emergency personnel.

There are two stairwells in the building, one on the north end and one on the south end. Individuals using the north stairwell can exit out the main entrance. Individuals using the south stairwell can use the first floor emergency exit out the west side of the building.

All staff should exit the building and wait on the western edge of the Mulva Library parking lot. Please wait there until you are accounted for.

Emergency exits (know where they are)

• Southwest stairwell, first floor
• Staff exit through 109
• Main entrances (east and west side)
• Ed's cafe entrance (north side)
• Mulva 101 emergency exit (north side)

In the event CENS alerts you to an active shooter, your next steps will depend on where you are in the building. Once the CENS is activated, the building doors will automatically lockdown.

• At the desk: Turn off the first floor lights and find a hiding space away from the entrance and windows.
• In the studio: If you are near, close the stairwell doors and find a hiding space away from the entrance and windows.
• On the second floor: If you are near, close the stairwell doors and find a hiding space away from the entrance and windows.
• On the third floor: If you are near, close the stairwell doors and find a hiding space away from the entrance and windows.

Anyone outside the building is advised to leave campus when the CENS is activated in this instance. Do not let anyone outside into the building.

• If you see someone with a gun, call 911 immediately and alert the police to the location of the individual.
• If an individual enters the library and reports seeing someone with a gun, call Campus Safety immediately.