Group 1 Campus PHEP Project: UMBC Police Department

Abstract

Emergency preparedness is a critical component of public health. In a perfect world,being prepared for emergencies would not be necessary, but we do not have that luxury. It istherefore crucial that society plans and implements safeguards when it comes to emergencies,both anticipated and unforeseen. This is a review of research conducted on the efficacy andusefulness of having emergency plans in multiple settings such as hospitals, Fire/EMS systems,and college campuses. College campuses are emphasized through the research, and our team did a systematic review of the UMBC police department’s policies and procedures throughinterviews. Comparing our findings in our interviews with the results of our research, we havecompiled the information found, concerns, and formulated recommendations we propose toimprove UMBC’s PHEP along with the potential to improve PHEP in multiple other settings.