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Should my college/center/department develop an emergency management plan?
Yes. All UAHuntsville departments and centers are required to develop comprehensive emergency
management plans, including Emergency Action Plans (EAP) and Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP).
However, the University leaves to the discretion of each college or division the decision to develop
one comprehensive plan for the entire group or to develop plans for each functional
or academic area (department). The driving consideration should be whether or not a single plan
would be sufficient to recover all or part of the division/college's functions following a
major disaster.
Who is responsible for developing the EAP and COOP plans in my area?
Administrators, deans, department chairs, and center directors are responsible for ensuring EAP and
COOP plans are developed for their areas. Typically, a planner is appointed for the
college/center/department and planning supervised by the responsible administrator, dean, department
chair, or center director.
This looks like a lot of work - is it really worth the effort?
Yes. Having detailed, up-to-date plans is necessary to provide protection of life and property,
and to ensure the University is able to continue its critical operations following a crisis event.
We owe it to our students, faculty, and staff to ensure their safety and the continuity of
UAHuntsville operations.
I've never done an EAP or COOP plan before - where do I start?
Beginning with the FEMA introductory
COOP course (IS-547) is recommended. This online self-study course provides an insight into
the reasons for planning, the planning process, and the components of emergency response plans.
This course is required for all administrators, deans, department chairs, center directors, and
all faculty and staff members appointed as area planners.
Does FERPA or HIPAA play a part in emergency response and continuity planning?
The short answer is "Yes" to both. A summary for each is:
HIPAA § 142.308(a) specifies security standards to
ensure data integrity, confidentiality and availability. These standards include risk
assessments as well as regularly updated contingency plans to facilitate continuity of
operations and disaster recovery. Not having current continuity plans results in
non-compliance with HIPAA requirements under this section.
FERPA allows disclosure of information from student records to appropriate authorities
in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect
the health or safety of the student or other persons. This is a limited disclosure provision
based upon a good-faith determination in light of facts in an emergency situation. Such
disclosures should be made only to professionals trained to evaluate and handle such emergencies
(such as law enforcement, mental health, or healthcare/medical service providers). As a general
rule, such disclosures of student education records would be unlikely to be deemed a voilation
of FERPA. Emergency response plans should reflect who in the department is authorized to release
student education information, and under what general conditions a release should be performed.
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