Emergency Preparedness

The MGH Institute has established an Emergency Preparedness Team and a plan to prepare and respond to emergencies or foreseeable or unforeseeable incidents. We recognize that no institution is invulnerable to crisis situations, and accordingly, we evaluate our plan on an ongoing basis to maintain a process that is as responsive as possible to safety threats and other risks.

Through the use of Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Police and Security, Partners HealthCare, the City of Boston and other resources, the plan is intended to assist the Institute community to cope with the anticipated and unforeseen needs caused by an emergency situation. The plan is also designed to provide a framework for communicating events and requirements and the resolution of each emergency to the community and public.

The plan is used when an event that meets the Institute’s criteria and definition of an emergency occurs. The guidelines will apply to all members of the Institute’s community, including students, faculty and staff, tenants and visitors to the Institute.

Types of Emergencies

An "emergency" is defined as any extraordinary event that endangers the Institute’s community or operations. An emergency is often unexpected and sometimes tragic. An emergency may also generate community or media interest in the Institute.
An emergency may include, but is not limited to, the following situations. The conditions may present an actual, perceived, or potential threat to the Institute’s student’s, faculty, staff, tenants, visitors, facilities or systems.

• Accidents involving students, faculty or staff
• Bomb threats
• Charlestown or Navy Yard incident requiring mutual aid from the Institute
• Environmental or natural disasters - fires, earthquakes, floods, chemical spills or leaks, explosions etc.
• Severe weather incidents
• Medical emergency
• MGH/Partners incident requiring the Institute to play a supporting role
• Political situations - riots, demonstrations, national security alerts, terrorism, etc.
• Violent crime or behavior - robbery, murder, suicide, personal injury (existing or potential), etc.

In the event of an emergency, the Emergency Preparedness Team will alert the MGH Institute community through its website, email, voicemail and by other methods as circumstances warrant. Procedures have been established which require students, faculty and staff to utilize I-ONLINE to provide and maintain contact information. It is each member of the Institute's community responsibility to update your contact information on a regular basis.

FOR ALL EMERGENCIES CALL 726-5400 (24 hours) – DO NOT CALL 911