As students, faculty and staff return to campus this fall from all corners of the world, Washington University administrators and health officials are monitoring the spread of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus and ensuring the University is prepared should an outbreak occur on campus.
WUSTL’s Emerging Infectious Disease Task Force — a team of University administrators and School of Medicine faculty formed last spring — meets regularly to refine the University’s pandemic flu preparations and to keep the University community updated with the latest information about the illness.
The University has launched a new Web site, wustl.edu/flu, to keep the community updated and relay the latest information.
“The task force, along with the University’s Crisis Management Team, chaired by Steve Hoffner, assistant vice chancellor for operations, has developed a comprehensive emergency management plan and regularly practices responding to emergencies such as pandemic flu,” said task force chair Alan Glass, M.D., assistant vice chancellor and director of the Habif Health & Wellness Center. “This includes assuring that health-care providers have adequate supplies, information and protocols and that communications are regularly updated.”
Glass said faculty, students and staff can reduce the risk of spreading illnesses by covering their coughs, using tissues and washing their hands frequently.
To guard against a flu outbreak at WUSTL, more than 700 hand sanitizer stations are being installed in high-traffic areas of the Danforth, North, West and Medical campuses.
Glass also recommends that faculty, staff and students able to be vaccinated for the typical seasonal flu receive flu shots. While those will not protect a person against the H1N1 virus, they will help prevent the spread of the seasonal flu and “false alarms” for H1N1.
Those feeling flu-like symptoms are encouraged to contact their primary health provider and to stay home. Flu symptoms include:
• Fever
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Headaches
• Muscle aches.
In addition to information on wustl.edu/flu, any significant changes in recommendations will be shared with students, parents, faculty, staff and others in the community through appropriate emergency communication channels such as WUSTL Alerts, the University’s emergency notification system; the emergency Web site, emergency.wustl.edu; and the emergency hotline, 935-9000 or toll-free 888-234-2863.
Additional information about a serious emergency also is available from campus media (WUTV Channel 22 and KWUR 90.3 FM) or KMOX (1120 AM), which is the regional radio station identified for emergencies.
WUSTL’s Student Health Services is prepared to provide special assistance and counseling to returning students with flu concerns. For more information, visit shs.wustl.edu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government Web sites also contain useful information on influenza. Visit cdc.gov/h1n1flu/index.htm; pandemicflu.gov; or hhs.gov.
Update second cellnumber in WUSTL ENS
The WUSTL Alerts system, part of the Emergency Notification System (ENS), uses contact information provided by students, faculty and staff in HRMS and WebSTAC/SIS to send information about an emergency to cell phones as text and voice messages as well as to @wustl.edu e-mail addresses.
WUSTL community members who have already updated their contact information but have more than one cell phone or pager number are encouraged to log in and include both numbers in their HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS profile. Those who have not yet updated their contact information in HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.
Parents, family and others may register to receive emergency information messages by following the links at emergency.wustl.edu.
“Text messaging has proved to be an effective and efficient way to reach members of a university community with emergency information,” said Matt Arthur, director of incident communications solutions.
“Only those with current information in HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS can receive the emergency messages,” Arthur said. “That’s why it’s vital that each WUSTL student, faculty and staff member updates his or her contact information. Parents of students are encouraged to provide their cell phone numbers as well via the emergency Web site.”
Cell phone numbers provided will only be used during emergency situations, Arthur said. They will not be shared with outside vendors or used for other purposes.
As of Sept. 1, 58 percent of faculty and staff and 55 percent of students had provided the University with cell phone numbers that can be used for WUSTL Alerts.
To update contact information, log on to HRMS or WebSTAC/SIS or visit emergency.wustl.edu and follow the link on the left side of the Web page.