Emergency Preparedness Month

Institutional Review Board

September is National Emergency Preparedness Month! 

You can’t plan an emergency, but you can absolutely plan for one. Take some time this month to ensure you and your research team have a plan for handling the unplanned.

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Communication

• Are you and your team signed up to receive ETSU Safety Alerts?
• Do you and your team have ETSU Police Department's number saved?
• Do you have emergency contact info recorded for your research team?
• If needed, do you have a way to quickly communicate with your research participants in an emergency?
• Is emergency preparedness a part of your onboarding process?
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File & Equipment Protection

• Are your paper files locked and secure?
• Are your files backed up in case you cannot access your lab/office?
• Research often requires expensive equipment. Do you have a plan to quickly secure or remove equipment in an emergency?
• Human life and safety will always be more important than research materials. Make sure you and your team know when to evacuate immediately.
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Medical Safety

• Does your lab/office have a first aid kit? Is it well-stocked and maintained?
• Does anyone on your team have basic first aid training? CPR?
• Does your lab/office have PPE? Does everyone know where it is?
• Does everyone on your team know where your building’s AED is? Does anyone on your team know how to use it? The locations of AEDs are posted on all external building doors. Become familiar with the locations in the buildings you frequent.
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Evacuation Drills & Planning

• Does your team know which exit to use in an evacuation?
• Does your team know where to meet in the event of an evacuation?
• How will you safely evacuate research participants in an emergency?
• Does your team know what to do in the event of extreme weather or a lock down?
• Do you have a place to safely shelter in place?
• How often do you and your team go over emergency procedures?

Be prepared before you need to respond.

Review the HRPP SOP 100-80 for Emergency Preparedness and familiarize yourself with the appropriate contacts and reporting procedures before an emergency occurs. Advance preparation helps researchers respond quickly while maintaining protections for research participants.

Participant safety comes first.

In an immediate emergency, researchers may need to take actions necessary to eliminate an apparent hazard to a participant. Researchers should document actions taken and follow applicable IRB reporting requirements in HRPP SOP 400-60 as soon as practicable after the emergency.