Sept. 17, 2002
Phases of Incidents in Ascending Order
Six Phases Identified
By Greg
Licamele
GW’s comprehensive safety plan defines and categorizes six kinds
of incidents. John Petrie, assistant vice president for public safety
and emergency management, says these definitions will help the University
plan and request appropriate support.
“Anything that might happen can fall into the category of incident,”
Petrie says. “Then we’ve taken words, with some forethought,
but in the view of many, potentially arbitrarily, so that we can communicate
clearly during the event. As we build a situation and evaluate it, the
label we put on it can lead us to what level we’re in (see Levels
of Alert).”
• Incident: An unanticipated event of any scale that affects
the University and demands action by members of the administration.
(This term can be used to describe events across the spectrum of severity.)
• Civil Disturbance: A purposeful act, by an individual
or group — whether from within or outside the GW community —
that distracts from the intended schedule or focus of events at the
University. Demonstrations can fall into this category, but all demonstrations
are not civil disturbances.
• Emergency: An unanticipated event that places life, property,
or vital interests at risk and demands immediate response, deliberate
recovery efforts, or use of alternatives resources or methods.
• Crisis: A critical turning point. An unstable condition
in which an abrupt or decisive change is pending. The potential outcomes
include adverse consequences. A crisis is an event that disrupts critical
functions.
• Disaster: An event involving significant destruction and
distress that adversely affects GW’s priorities, strategic goals,
and vital interests and disrupts business continuity. The scale of a
disaster requires an extraordinary response from within and outside
the University.
• Catastrophe: An event on the scale of a disaster that
includes: serious injury or death of a member of the GW community, or
permanent damage to University property or vital interests, or destruction
or disruption on such a scale that it permanently denies the attainment
of at least one strategic goal, or irreparable damage to any University
building(s), or a disruption of operational continuity that makes completion
of the current semester prior to the scheduled start of the next academic
session (fall, spring or summer) impossible, or economic costs requiring
more than three years to recover.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
