Cypress College Emergency Preparation

Cypress College will be participating in the 2023 National Great Shake Out. This year’s drill will be Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 10:19 a.m. During this drill Cypress College will be conducting a “Full Evacuation” exercise and your role will be critical for the success of the event.

• We are NOT evacuating persons with disabilities that are unable to make it out on their own.
• We ARE going through the full evacuation process, from Assembly Point to Evacuation Zone
• There will NOT be Fire Alarms going off. The notification will come electronically.
• There will be Campus Safety Officers at the Assembly Points and will escort everyone to the evacuation zones. So look for the uniformed officers.
• In the event someone or a group of people refuse to evacuate, make note of it and report it to Campus Safety, but continue to move on. This is an exercise to mimic an actual event, so it’s about timing and safety.
• If you have a “Go Bag” use it. If you do not have a “Go Bag” then just announce yourself and your position. Again in an actual emergency, you may or may not have the time to grab it.
• We will NOT be deploying the Striker Chairs, as we are not evacuating persons with disabilities that are unable to make it out on their own.
• If you will not be on campus during the Drill, please assign someone to take your place. It does not have to be someone in your position. It can be anyone on your team and even someone who can take double duties. For instance a Floor Marshall would can take on 2 floors or a Floor Marshall who can take on the role of Building Coordinator and Floor Marshall.

Being prepared at every level allows us to mitigate any situation that may cause harm to the Charger Community. Campus Safety works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We are out on patrol and we are just a phone call away. Our Campus Safety number is (714) 484-7387. Please put this number in your phone for easy access and ask your students and fellow colleagues to do the same. 

Students are encouraged to utilize myGateway to update their personal information for text alert messaging in the event of an emergency. Students must provide their personal information in myGateway to receive these text notifications.

Follow these steps to verify that your cell phone and email address are entered and current:

• Sign into myGateway.
• Go to the “Personal Information” channel under the “Student” tab.
• Click on the item “Set Text Message Alert Preferences.”
• When clicking on “Set Text Message Alert Preferences,” the next screen will allow you to enter your cell phone information, the cellular service provider, the level of messages you wish to receive and the campus or campuses you want to be notified about.
• After entering your information, click on the “Submit” button.

Our experience has proven Twitter to be a reliable method of emergency communication. In addition to asking you to sign up for text messages (see above), please help out by signing up to follow the college on Twitter. You can do so by visiting twitter.com/CypressCollege and clicking on the “follow” button.