Healthy Campus

Ensuring a healthy University community

Many people across campus work every day to ensure the health and safety of our campus community. This responsibility is shared by many departments including those who provide health services, counseling services, food services, housing, facilities management, environmental health, and public safety. Many of these daily efforts are designed to prevent health problems at the individual level, and also to prevent community-level health problems.

What is a health emergency?

A health emergency is a rare situation when something unusual creates the potential for widespread illness or possibly death among a group of people.

Examples of possible health emergencies include the following:

  • A large outbreak of bacterial meningitis
  • A large foodborne outbreak
  • An act of bioterrorism such as an intentional release of anthrax spores or another biologic agent
  • A large chemical spill or release that results in multiple injuries
  • An influenza pandemic
  • An emerging infectious disease outbreak

Health emergencies, by their nature, are often longer-term events than natural disasters, with the possibility of lasting for weeks or months.

How are health emergencies handled on campus?

The University's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) outlines the basic response system for all emergencies on campus including health emergencies. Additional systems and procedures that capitalize on the resources available in the UMD Health Services have been developed for health emergencies to augment the EOP.

Additional Resources


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