Procedures in cases of accident or danger

In all urgent emergency situations, whether it be a police, fire department, paramedic, or a social worker case involving an urgent need for help CALL THE EMERGENCY NUMBER: 112

1. Call the emergency number yourself if you can. It is important to make the emergency call yourself, if the matter concerns you. The victim has more knowledge on the situation, based on which the dispatcher can send help accordingly. Using middle-men to make the call can delay getting the right kind of help on site.
   
2. Tell what happened. The emergency center dispatcher will ask the caller about what happened so that they can send the appropriate assistance.
   
3. Give the exact address and municipality. The emergency center might have several same addresses in different municipalities/cities in its service area. Therefore it is also important to know the name of the town/city/municipality where the accident has taken place.
   
4. Answer the questions that are asked of you. The questions asked by the dispatcher are important. They do not delay alarming for help. In urgent cases the dispatcher already alerts the authorities and other partners during the call, and gives them more information on what has happened.
   
5. Act according to the information given to you. The dispatcher is trained to give instructions in various types of situations. It is important to follow the given instructions. Correct initial actions often play an important role in the end result.
   
6. End the call only after you're given permission to do so. Ending the call too soon may delay the help from arriving. After you are given the permission to end the call, end it. Keep the phone line open. The dispatcher or the help on its way may need additional information on what has happened.

Clarify and check

• What has happened?
• Check the person's condition (do they wake up, are they breathing?)

Give first aid if needed

• Turn an unconscious but breathing patient into the recovery position on their side.
• If the person is not breathing, start with first aid.

Make an emergency call

• Call the number 112.
• Tell where you are calling from.
• Tell what happened
• Act according to directions.
• Inform the emergency centre of any changes that take place in the condition of the patient.

The defibrillators which are located on the campuses will guide the user through the revival event with clear voice and text instructions.



You can locate the nearest defibrillator from the address www.defi.fi or with 112 application. On the campuses of the University of Oulu several defibrillators are found:

Linnanmaa

• Central hall info
• Main building lobby
• Enviromental sciences building lobby
• OAMK A9 lobby
• OAMK info
• OAMK C5 entrance 2 nd floor
• Saint Luke Chapel, main entry

Kontinkangas

• Aapistie 5 aulan 1 kerros
• Aapistie 7 Tellus aula 1 kerros

Save and warn

• Rescue those in immediate danger and warn others.
• Direct people to the gathering area.

Extinguish and contain

• Try initial extinguishing and avoid smoke. Do not put yourself in danger.
• Contain the spreading of the fire and smoke by closing the windows and doors that lead into the fire area.

Alert

• Use the fire alarm button to alert the fire department and to warn others with fire bells.
• After getting to a safe location, call the number 112 (also after using the fire alarm button).
• Say where you are calling from, where the fire is (address and floor) and if there are people in danger.
• Do not hang up the phone until you are given permission to do so.

Guide

• Direct the rescue personnel to the location.
• In an emergency, the rescue department shall be guided

Action guide, when safe exits are blocked

Sometimes a fire in another location prevents safe exit from the building. In these cases, it is smartest to stay in a smokeless space and keep all doors and other openings closed.

Stay in the fire compartment that you are in.

• It is safe to stay behind the fire door. Fire doors withstand fire for at least half an hour.
• Jumping from a height has fatal consequences, remaining in a smoke-free area does not.

Go to a window and attract attention. If you do not manage to do this, let people know your location by calling 112.

Follow directions from the authorities.

The building has an automatic fire alarm system, which sends an alert to the rescue department. Everyone must vacate the building immediately when they hear the fire alarm.

• Bring outdoor clothes with you if they are nearby.
• Close doors and windows
• Use the nearest escape route to exit the building.
• Direct customers and guests.
• Call the number 112 from a safe location and provide further information about the situation. At the same time, you will make sure that the emergency center has been notified about the fire.
• Move to the gathering area; do not stay in front of the entrances.
• No-one may leave the gathering area without permission.

The danger is only over when the rescue department gives permission to return to the building. The safety personnel of the property passes on the announcement concerning moving back inside to the personnel.

When people have left the building and proceeded to the gathering area, the representative of the personnel begins to direct activities. Based on the situation at hand, it is necessary to consider whether it is safe to remain in the designated gathering area or if people should be directed elsewhere, for example into a pre-arranged interior area or to a property in the vicinity.

No-one may leave the gathering area without the permission of the person responsible for the gathering area. Activity in the gathering area is directed by the building's safety personnel. The safety personnel give information on the progress of the situation and notify when it is permitted to return into the property.

Factors to bear in mind in the gathering area:

• Taking care of anyone who may be injured; the safety personnel are to be informed
• looking after people with reduced mobility or otherwise poor physical condition
• if one is aware of someone having remained inside, this is to be reported

Back-up gathering area

If the gathering area is not safe, then people are to move on to a safe back-up gathering area defined separately by the protection managers. Authorities will also provide instructions about shelter locations for long-term shelter.

In an emergency situation, the movement of people with reduced mobility out of the building may be difficult and slow. Try to help them as much as you are able to.

Things to consider when helping people with reduced mobility

• Help a person with reduced mobility to exit, within the limits of your own capabilities.
• Take care of the person you helped also after getting out.

Various property crimes can be encountered on arrival at work or sometimes also during the working day. There is no clear policy for robbery or burglary, as the situation often dictates the conditions under which it must be acted upon. However, some principles can be followed.

• If signs of burglary, burglary, vandalism or other “sabotage” are detected, the situation is immediately reported to the workplace management, shift supervisors, etc., as well as to the security manager and further to the police.
• Traces of the incident must not be cleaned until the scene has been thoroughly investigated. Traces of the event must be recorded and photographed.
• Additional damage must be prevented (broken windows, locks, water pipes, etc.). All actions taken must be recorded and, if necessary, photographed.

In the event of a robbery or threat, act calmly and prudently. It’s not worth playing a hero in a situation because most of the time the robber is better prepared for the situation than you are.

In an unarmed threatening situation, act in the following way

• Act calmly and try to calm the person with your behaviour.
• Make sure you do not turn your back or let yourself be cornered, so that you will always have an escape route when a threatening person comes close.
• Call for help depending on the circumstances.
• Escape and help others escape.

Take care of your own safety. Seek to direct the threatening person to a place where they cannot harm others. After the event, contact the police about the incident if required.

If the threatening person is armed, act in the following way

• Do not resist.
• Do whatever the person threatening you tells you to do.
• As the situation permits, try to warn others.
• By closing doors, you can limit a person's movement within the property.
• After the situation, call 112 to get professional help on site as fast as possible. Listen to directions and act accordingly.

Every threat and sighting of a possibly threatening situation must be taken seriously and the police must be informed immediately. Through your own behaviour, you can affect the progress of the situation, and thus you should take all threatening situations seriously and try to calm down already begun situations.

Operation in case of shooting incident

• Run away from the danger area if it is possible

If running away is not safe:

Go to the class or other safe place

• Lock the door or put pieces of furniture in front of the door so that the handle of the door cannot be used
• Put pieces of furniture in front of the door
• Turn off the lights
• Stay next to the door wall if wall material is for example brick or concrete or look for a another safe place
• Call 112 and tell about the situation. Inform of the floor number, room number
• Avoid use of the telephone otherwise
• Stay away from the hallway if there is smoke, stay in the class and try to fill possible leaks with wet clothes etc.
• Wait additional instructions from the police/the rescue authorities/the school staff
• Act according to the additional instructions

A bomb threat is often unfounded and made by a disturbed individual, but it should always be taken seriously, and each threat should be notified to the police. In this situation, it is important to keep calm.

When the threat is made by phone

• Remain calm. Prolong the call.
• Make notes. Write the threat down word-for-word.
• Ask questions.
• Where is the bomb?
• What does the bomb look like?
• When will the bomb explode?
• Why?
• Try to get your colleague's attention already during the phone call, so that he/she can inform the person responsible for safety during the call.
• Pay attention to the caller's speaking style and tone of voice.
• Does he/she use noticeable dialect or other special characteristics?
• Is he/she agitated?
• Is he/she reading the message from a piece of paper?
• Listen to the background noises as well (e.g. traffic or discussions in the background).
• After the call, notify the safety and security personnel on your premises or property (cf. chapter of safety and security personnel).
• If this is not possible, call the police immediately at 112 and act according to their instructions.

A suspicious object or threatening letter

• Do not touch the object.
• If the item in question is a letter or other such object that you have handled, pay attention to the places you have touched and place the letter in a plastic pocket, for example.
• Notify immediately the personnel responsible for safety and security on your premises and the property (cf. chapter on safety and security personnel) as well as the police at emergency number 112.
• Isolate the area as well as possible. Keep in mind possible police investigations (fingerprints and footprints are first-class evidence).
• Do not panic. Act according to the instructions from the police and the safety personnel.

The public warning signal is a one-minute-long ascending and descending tone or a warning announcement by the authorities. The length of the ascending tone is 7 seconds. The public warning signal means an immediate danger threatening the public.

The All Clear signal is a one-minute-long monotonous signal. It is an announcement of the threat or danger having passed.

Act in the following way after you've heard the public warning signal

• Proceed indoors. Close doors, windows, ventilation holes, and air conditioning devices.
• Turn on the radio and wait for instructions.
• Avoid using the phone to prevent telephone lines from getting jammed.
• Do not leave the area unless urged to do so by the authorities.

Gas hazard

Public warning signal in danger situations concerning gas

Do the following

• If you are indoors and can smell gas:
  • stay inside, get to the top floors and listen for further information on the radio
  • place a wet cloth over your mouth and breathe through it
• If you are outside when you smell gas but are not able to get indoors:
  • hurry into side wind from underneath the gas cloud
  • try to get as high as possible, for example to the top of a hill

Additional information on taking cover from gas

• Switch off air conditioning devices and close doors and windows tightly.
• You can also close or tape inside doors and stay in upwind areas.
• If you smell gas you can breathe through a moist and spongy cloth.
• The authorities will announce on radio or with vehicles with loudspeakers when the gas cloud has dispersed. Ventilate indoors well after the event.

Radiation hazard

A public warning signal is given upon the threat of radiation.

Go inside.

• Close doors, windows, ventilation holes, and air conditioning devices.
• The centre and basement of the building are the best places to take shelter. Take iodine tablets only when advised to do so by the authorities (there should be two iodine tablets per person).

Avoid moving outside

Additional instructions

You will get additional information from your city's rescue authorities, from broadcast media, and from Yle's (the Finnish Broadcasting Company's) Teletext page 867. You can also find information from the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority's website www.stuk.fi

It is allowed to wait for the end of the power outage in the campus premises until the lobby service staff starts emptying the premises.

If possible, students and staff will be informed about power cuts in person by e-mail. In addition to e-mail, students should follow the oulu.fi website and the Tuudo app. In addition to e-mail, the staff communication channels include the Patio intranet and mass text messages.

Teachers will inform students of the arrangement/cancellation/replacement of studies or appointments of the day’s schedule.

What to do in the event of an unexpected power cut:

• Wait for about 15–30 minutes to see if the power comes back on and/or if more information is available.
• Move calmly in the dark and use your mobile phone light, for example.
• Help others move safely, too.
• Do not flush toilets or use water.
• Do not use a lift if there is the risk of a power cut.
• Follow your e-mail and other university communication channels for instructions.

Please note that during a power cut:

• Normal lighting, ventilation and heating will be out of service.
• The university’s internal data networks will not be functioning.
• Avoid flushing toilets and using water.
• There may be problems in telephone traffic in the power cut areas or the connection may be lost completely.
• Flashlights or mobile phone lights can be used to allow safe movement.
• As a general precaution, it is good to keep your mobile phone and laptop well charged.