MIT Alert

About This Page

When an emergency occurs that could negatively impact the safety of the MIT community, emergency.mit.net will be used to provide information about the incident.

MIT Alert Emergency Notifications

The MIT Alert system sends messages to the MIT community informing them about a confirmed emergency and to provide suggested protection actions. All active students and employees will have their contact information automatically captured in the MIT Alert system through their Kerberos account. The external community can sign up for MIT Alert as well. The MIT Alert system uses the following methods to notify the MIT community in an emergency:

• SMS (text)
• Email
• Voice
• Social media (@MITAlert and @MITPolice twitter, MIT Alert and MIT Police Facebook pages)
• RSS feed to emergency.mit.net
• Digital message boards

Communications

If you have or witness an emergency:

• Call MIT Police by dialing 100 from a campus phone or calling (617) 253‐1212 from an off-campus or cell phone.
• Look for MIT Alert messages
• Check this page, emergency.mit.net for additional information about the emergency.
• Check in with residential life staff, your parents/family, and/or your supervisor.

Emergency Response Actions

Depending on the situation, there are three general types of responses you should take during an emergency:

Evacuate – If an unsafe situation occurs inside a building or area, you should:

• Proceed safely to the nearest exit (do not use elevators).
• If it is safe to do so, assist persons who are unable to leave on their own.
• Evacuate the building and stay clear of the area
• Await further instructions or the "all clear" before returning to the building or area.
• Examples: Fire, chemical spill (indoors), gas leak, flooding.

Shelter-In-Place – If an unsafe situation occurs outside of your building:

• Move to an interior space.
• For severe weather, move to the lowest floor possible.
• If it is safe to do so, assist persons who are unable to shelter on their own.
• For earthquakes, shelter indoors and duck, cover, and hold on.
• Remain sheltered until you receive the "all clear."
• Examples: Severe weather, tornado, chemical spill (outdoors).

Run, Hide, Fight – If there is an active shooter or violent intruder, you should:

• First, RUN if you are able to do so. Get away from the area.
• If you can't RUN away, HIDE. Shelter‐in‐place, close and lock all windows and doors, and turn phones and computers to silent mode.
• If you can't RUN or HIDE, attempt to FIGHT or counter the intruder using any means available as a last resort option.

For more information about MIT Alert, please contact MIT's Office of Emergency Management & Business Continuity at 617-452-4368 or em-staff@mit.edu.