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Prioritizing Safety

Prioritizing Safety

UCF’s Emergency Operation Center is home to the university’s Emergency Management team, which helps keep Knights safe in times of crisis. 

Summer 2020 | By Jenna Marina Lee 

Whether it’s a hurricane headed for Central Florida or a global pandemic forcing physical distancing, the UCF Emergency Operation Center (EOC) is command central in times of crisis on campus.

Located on Perseus Loop near the UCF Police Department, the EOC is home to the Emergency Management team, which spends every waking moment working to prevent, prepare for, manage or recover from critical threats to UCF. On March 10, the team met for a hands-on practical discussion about the coronavirus and campus safety. UCF had been monitoring and preparing for the pandemic since January.


“We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I have great confidence in [our team’s] talent and dedication. All of us are committed to keeping our campus safe.”
Carl Metzger '03MS, UCF Police Department chief

74,249

Registered users in UCF Alert, a multimedia communications system that provides timely and accurate information about emergency situations that could impact UCF

885

Employees deemed essential

40

Staff members who slept at the EOC during Hurricane Matthew in 2016

11

Monitors in the EOC that can be tuned to the news, weather, security cameras and hospital wait times, while screen-sharing from any of the building’s 47 workstations

10

Years UCF has been designated as a StormReady University by the National Weather Service

7

Universities in the nation, including UCF, that are certified by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program

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Two women face the camera while a man has his back to it.
A woman points to a laptop screen while two women look at the screen.
A male police officer and another man speak while sitting.