Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Washington State University Emergency Management Planning

Planning Resources

Preparing for emergencies is everyone’s job!

Due to the complexity and scale of a world-class research institution like WSU, effective emergency management cannot solely be managed centrally and is a process that requires the involvement of all units, faculty and staff.


What is WSU doing to prepare for emergencies?

Over the years, much has been done at WSU to help ensure the safety and welfare of students, faculty and staff by the departments and personnel assigned to these tasks.  A need for a more comprehensive approach led to the requirement that all WSU units prepare an Emergency Response Plan and a Continuance of Operations Plan (COOP). Guidance for major emergencies or emergencies affecting the University as a whole is contained in the WSU Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.

The Office of Emergency Management continues its ongoing efforts in creating a campus community that is familiar with emergency procedures, including where to find official emergency information. WSU encourages all students, staff and faculty to sign up to receive emergency notifications through their myWSU account. Users can choose to receive alerts via several ways, including cell phone calls and texts, landline phone calls, WSU and personal email. For more information, please to go alert.wsu.edu.


Unit Emergency Response Plans

Per BPPM 50.39 and Executive Policy #25, Washington State University requires all units within the institution, statewide, to prepare emergency response plans.  Unit plans are to be reviewed and updated as needed within each unit and submitted to the Office of Emergency Management by October 1, annually, for review and approval.   WSU Ready link will take you to the current process and guidelines for preparing unit plans as required. Please contact the Office of Emergency Management if you have questions or need assistance in completing your unit’s emergency response plan.


Continuance of Operations Planning (COOP)

Per BPPM 50.39 and Executive Policy #25, Washington State University requires all units within the institution, statewide, to prepare Continuance of Operations Plans. Unit plans are to be reviewed and updated as needed within each unit and submitted to the Office of Emergency Management by October 1, annually, for review and approval.  Major emergency situations that significantly impact the University and/or continue over a lengthy period present many challenges to maintaining mission-critical and essential operations. After managing the immediate affects of an emergency, units need to look towards how they will maintain mission-critical and essential functions while recovering from the affects of the impacts left by the emergency situation.  Basic planning can help alleviate the impact of these types of emergencies. WSU Ready guidelines will assist units to determine the mission-critical and essential elements of the unit’s operations and what needs to be done to maintain them.  COOP assists units in preparing for recovery and resumption of normal operations as soon as possible. COOP also helps a unit identify critical needs so other units within the institution that maintain services such as utilities, technology or security will know what they must do to assist.