Once the telephone chain has been used to establish which people are present, an emergency management team and one or more emergency response groups are put together as required.
Depending on the nature and scope of the emergency, the emergency management team and emergency response group may be manned fully or in part as described below, or extra resources may be added. It must be possible to contact the members of the emergency management team and the emergency response group, and the director decides whether the emergency management team should be gathered in one physical location based on the nature of the emergency.
When the public emergency services (police, fire service) are present on site, they are in charge of handling the crisis, and make decisions about all safety measures such as initiating evacuation, etc.
The emergency management team
The emergency management team consists of people with specific responsibility for emergency management within their respective areas.
As a rule, the emergency management team consists of the university director, AU’s head of press and communication, the Rector's Office as well as heads of communication and building services. The members of the emergency management team are thus the university director’s points of contact for building operations, press, communication and management. If there is a physical emergency site, AU’s head of press and communication will typically be there and be the person responsible for press on site.
The university director decides whether the emergency management team should be gathered in one physical location. If so, the team will work in the office shared by Communication and Press, if no other agreement is made.
Communication to the emergency management team takes place between employees and the relevant representative on the emergency management team.
The university director (or the director’s deputy from the senior management team) has ultimate responsibility for the crisis management effort, leads the emergency management team and makes all significant decisions on behalf of the university.
The university director’s role is to ensure that psychological emergency assistance is called in if necessary, assess the consequences for operations and contact the relevant managers to ensure continuity, as well as to inform other stakeholders.
In addition, the university director is to make sure that the ‘all clear’ is sounded when relevant, and that a debriefing is arranged.
The emergency response group
The emergency response group consists of the people at a specific location who lead the local emergency management initiatives. The management representative leads the group and makes local decisions. Where possible, far-reaching decisions must be cleared with the university director.
In an acute situation, the emergency response group is comprised of the people on site who are best qualified to handle the task. The emergency response group must consist of people from the local building operations team, communication and press.
AU’s head of press and communication and the head of building services (or their deputies) each appoint a person from each area to the emergency management team and to the emergency response group(s).
Depending on the nature and scope of the emergency, a person may participate in both teams.
If the police establish an assembly point at the site of the incident, this will typically also be the meeting point for the emergency response group.
The management representative in the emergency response group leads the emergency response group. In principle, the highest ranking manager (dean, head of department (Aarhus BSS, ST, HE)/school (Arts)) on site will be the management representative. If necessary, the university director may decide who is to be the management representative in the emergency response group.
The person responsible for building operations in the emergency response group is responsible for ensuring the physical safety of people, animals, valuables and the environment, and for assisting the authorities’ incident commander when this person is present.
The person responsible for the press in the emergency response group is responsible for contact with the media on site, and for coordinating statements with the authorities’ incident commander.
The communication coordinator in the emergency response group is responsible for ensuring that all information about changes to the emergency situation, local decisions taken and information to the press are forwarded to the relevant people in the emergency management team, either by the coordinator himself/herself or by other members of the emergency response group.
