Following last spring's shootings at Virginia Tech and UW's Gould Hall, the UW Emergency Management implemented a system called UW Alert to send text messages to subscribers' phones in case of an emergency. So far, only 5,000 people have signed up out of the estimated 70,000 people that frequent the UW campus on any given school day.

"We've always had a disaster plan," said Steven Charvat, the UW's director of emergency management, "[but] we didn't have an effective way of getting word out."

UW Alert was developed as a new crisis communication plan this summer and resolved part of the issue of giving critical information to a large campus.

Prior to UW Alert, the emergency management Web site and telephone hotline provided updates to the community.

"[The Web site] was a passive system," Charvat said. "Gould Hall was a big issue, as was Virginia Tech ... [and] led to the development of advanced tools."

Verizon Wireless, runs UW Alert. In the case of the University's default system shutting down, the information would still be sent out. According to the emergency management Web site, the telephone numbers used for UW Alert will remain private. The system is voluntary and would not generate spam.

"We may test it three to four times a year but it will be used in very limited circumstances," Charvat said. "It'll be kept confidential and you can always unsubscribe."

A lot of universities have similar systems, including Virginia Tech, which implemented a text alert system after last year's shooting. Charvat said that as horrific as the incident at Virginia Tech was, only 50 percent of the campus has signed up.

"It only takes two to three minutes to sign up ... and it will provide critical information in times of disaster," he said.

Another new component of the University's emergency response concerns the blue phones scattered throughout campus. The phones have a button that connects directly to 9-1-1 in case of an emergency.

"Sometime this winter we will be changing the color and making them much more visible," Charvat said. "We will be swapping out a number of them for speakers that can be heard about a block away so that we can make announcements in case of an emergency. Like the UW Alert, they will be used only in an emergency."

The phone locations are shown on UW campus maps.

UW Alert and the phone upgrade is "just one of many items in the toolbox for emergency management," Charvat said. "The focus of this plan is to gather the information and get it out ... quickly and update it as necessary."

To sign up for UW Alert, visit the UW Emergency Management homepage at www.washington.edu/admin/business/oem/index.php. Click on the UW Alert to subscribe.

[Reach reporter Erika Cederlind at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]