Preparedness takes the form of plans or procedures designed to save lives and to minimize damage when an incident occurs. Planning, training, and exercising are the essential elements of preparedness. These activities ensure that when a disaster strikes, emergency personnel will be able to provide the best response possible, and the community will be prepared.  

Personal Preparedness

Preparedness is not limited to the emergency response community.  You should take steps to ensure that you are personally prepared for emergencies and disasters, both at work and home. Use our Personal Preparedness Checklist to guide your activities and our Weather Preparedness resources to prepare for weather related hazards.

University Academic and Operations Preparedness

It is also important for campus units to prepare their academic and business operations for emergency incidents.  The Office of Emergency Management has developed guidance for Academic Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness Information for Facility Representatives, and Continuity of Operations Planning.

The Cornell Graduate School and the Division of Research and Innovation provide resources to support Cornell faculty and researchers in developing contingency plans for instruction and research continuity during work disruptions. These resources include:
• Maintaining Instructional Continuity in the Face of a Significant Disruption
• Contingency Planning for Research Supervisors

The Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation provides planning, strategies, and tools to help faculty rapidly shift learning environments. More specifically, CCTI offers preparedness guidance for teaching during periods of disruption.

University Preparedness Activities

The Preparedness phase designs and tests strategies, processes, and protocols to prepare Cornell for potential emergencies. The Office of Emergency Management supports university preparedness activities that include:

• Establishing an incident command system (ICS) consistent with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for organizing personnel and services to respond in the event of an emergency.
  • Cornell has identified key personnel who receive training on the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System.
• Developing all-hazard policies, procedures, and protocols with input from key community partners such as law enforcement, medical services, public health, fire services, and mental health.
• Collaborating with community partners to establish mutual aid agreements that will establish formal relationships among all the community response partners and emergency support services.
• Negotiating contracts that will provide the campus with resources (e.g., food, transportation, medical services, and volunteers) needed during an emergency.
• Assigning personnel to manage each ICS function and defining lines of succession in emergency plan as to who is in charge when key leaders are not available.

Preparedness exercises, such as drills and tabletop discussions, are used to test and validate our plans and procedures and verify the integrity of supplies and equipment. Exercises help identify areas for improvement and corrective actions to improve our readiness. The Office of Emergency Management supports our campus response partners by facilitating emergency preparedness exercises.