Emergency Articles

Long before the first flake falls, a team of University officials begins to monitor developing weather conditions. If forecasted inclement weather moves closer, the team homes in to assess the weather's likely impact on University's infrastructure and accessibility, including parking lots, sidewalks, and streets. This information helps guide institutional decisions regarding operation schedules with personal safety always as the top priority. 

UVA Emergency Management (EM) has wrapped up another season of providing spectator safety and security support for all home football games. With the help of a new state-of-the-art event management software platform used for the first time this year, EM helped plan and coordinate the combined efforts of police and public safety departments from the University, Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the State of Virginia. Due to their crowd size, UVA home games offer a golden opportunity for state and local resources to manage large-scale non-emergency events in real time, while remaining ready to rapidly respond to small or large-scale emergency situations if needed.  Home games attract anywhere from 30,000-50,000 fans to Scott Stadium, making them the single largest gathering of people on Grounds.

Muki, the 10-year-old Belgian Malinois who served as the University Police Department’s explosive-detection canine for eight years, was recognized at a reception in the Rotunda in April. UVA Police Chief Tommye Sutton highlighted Muki’s career in the Department’s K-9 program. Chief Sutton presented Muki and his handler, Officer Audrell Ragland, with a plaque honoring Muki’s career and the years he worked to keep our community safe. Highly trained and using powers beyond the capability of humans, Muki’s job was to sweep athletic and concert venues, such as Scott Stadium and John Paul Jones Arena, by sniffing for explosives.

In February Valentine's hearts are everywhere, but the most important hearts are the ones we cannot see.  Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, but UVA wants to decrease deaths on our Grounds through one of the most extensive higher ed public access defibrillation (AED) programs in the country. Locate your nearest AED at work and take a refresher on hands-only CPR. Be ready in case someone's heart suddenly relies on your hands.