Emergencies
Where to direct your Emergency Call:
Monday - Friday before 5:00pm:
Order of Contact | How to Contact |
1 | Emergency Cell: (831-459-5664) *Dial 9-5664 from a lab phone |
2 | Student Managers via Slack |
Monday - Friday after 5:00pm, or Saturday - Sunday
Order of Contact | How to Contact |
1 | Student Managers via Slack |
2 | Emergency Cell: (831-459-5664) *Dial 9-5664 from a lab phone |
Handling Belligerent Customers:
You should ALWAYS have the right to feel safe working in a Learning Technologies lab. Be familiar with this policy in case it comes up for you. If a customer is ever rude to you or makes you feel uncomfortable:
- Call either the Emergency Cell or Student Managers following the ordering outlined above.
- If you cannot reach them or feel very threatened, CALL 911 FROM THE LAB PHONE. See below for more details. The Police are here for your safety, so do not feel like you are inconveniencing them by calling. They have told us this repeatedly.
- ALWAYS email consmgr with the workstation # of the customer in question, time of the incident, which lab, and a description of what happened, so staff or Police can follow up with the customer. Police want this information, as it is usually not an isolated incident. They want to monitor the behavior of all problem people on campus.
Calling 911:
If you feel threatened to the point that you want Police to respond but do not feel comfortable letting the customer know you are calling the Police, use one of these options depending on the situation:
- Tell the customer you need to call a Learning Technologies staff but their # is on your cell phone and you do not have reception in the lab. Step outside the lab and call 911, being specific with your location.
- If you can use Instant Messaging to reach someone, have them call 911 for you.
- Quietly ask another customer to call 911 for you (tell the customer you need to look something up on their computer to respond to the issue or check on something and ask them quietly).
- Call 911 from the LAB PHONE and leave the phone off the hook. It is helpful to Dispatch to leave verbal clues for them, as they will be following your conversation. As an example, I am asking you to leave so you do not upset the other customers using the Jack Baskin Computer lab. Sounds goofy, but this enables them to respond quicker.
Types of Emergencies:
Each lab is equipped with a first aid kit and a flashlight for emergencies, found inside the supply cabinet. Consultants are free to use anything contained inside the kits, but please remember to post a supply request if the supplies within the kit need replenishing.
Medical:
In case of a medical emergency, please call 911 immediately. If you are appropriately trained in CPR and/or first aid and feel comfortable dealing with a situation, please do help. The Good Samaritan laws protect you (and the University) from liability provided you are acting within the bounds of your training (i.e. don’t try an amputation). Never move an unconscious or seriously injured person unless they are in immediate and imminent danger in their current location (i.e. the lab is on fire).
Fire:
Fire alarms can be distinguished by their extremely loud alarm as well as the flashing firelights in the room. In the event of a fire, you must evacuate the building. Ask all the customers to calmly leave the building without causing a panic. Close the door behind you, but do not worry about setting the alarm. Be familiar with the posted evacuation plans so you know where to direct customers in the labs and libraries.
Earthquake:
During an earthquake everyone in the lab or library, including you, should get under the desks for protection. Once the earthquake has stopped you may get out from under the desk and go to the evacuation areas as long as there is not a risk of falling objects. Depending on the severity of the earthquake and the level of damage, the labs and libraries may be able to continue operating as normal or may need to be evacuated. Be familiar with the posted evacuation plans so you know where to direct customers in the labs and libraries.
In general, a technical emergency is a situation where a critical part or the entire computer lab area is unusable, or a class cannot meet because of an issue. This differs from the day-to-day annoyances of one or two machines not working. The following are examples to help you judge whether a situation you may experience is an emergency, although it is OK to act on the side of caution and report it if you are unsure. If you experience a technical emergency, be sure to submit a Tech Support Request in the Support Request System AND use the Emergency Contact list to call it in and report it to staff quickly.
The following are examples of technical emergency situations:
- No workstations can access applications on the server.
- Over 30% of the computers are down in the labs and/or libraries.
- Software for a class does not work, instructor can’t find software, or not enough computers are working for a class.
- Printer is down (no one can print).
- Cruzcat (Library Catalog Server) is down.
- Library website is down (http://library.ucsc.edu/).
- Facilities issues, such as an alarm issue, or a lab door that won’t lock when you are ready to leave and close the lab.
ALWAYS submit a Support Request with a complete description of the situation IN ADDITION to calling someone in the case of a technical emergency!
Occasionally the campus has power outages*. These come in two forms: localized (meaning only a section of the campus has lost power) and global (meaning the entire campus has lost power). If you find yourself in a power outage, please follow the steps below:
- Determine whether the outage is local or global. This is done by calling at least two other labs or libraries around campus to see if their power is out as well.
- Report the issue by contacting the Lab Operations Manager or Student Lab Manager in the Emergency Contact list.
*Note: If the power outage lasts only a short amount of time and does not seriously affect customers it is NOT necessary to report it.
Other non-technical emergencies:
If you can’t reach anyone after 5pm and you have a non-technical emergency, you can always call campus Dispatch at (831) 459-2345 and report the issue.
Examples of non-technical emergencies:
- Urgent security or facilities issues, such as a building door is locked that you need access.
- Urgent security issues where you or the lab attendees feel threatened in any way, call Police Dispatch at 9-4857 or 911 if it is an emergency. (**See section on “Belligerent Customers” for detailed information).
- Major facilities problems after hours that can’t wait until the next day, such as the roof is leaking water on the computers or you think there is a gas leak.
ALWAYS report a Facilities/Class Issue Request with a complete description of the situation afterwards!