The University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Public Safety will conduct a UPenn Alert Emergency Notification Test with a campus-wide shelter-in-place awareness drill Friday, Sept. 27, at 12:15 p.m. 

UPenn Alert is an emergency-communications system that allows the University to quickly provide the Penn community and campus visitors with critical information during a crisis through various methods, including text messages, e-mails, the Penn Siren Outdoor System, the Public Safety Web site and other digital displays.

Public Safety will send messages to all registered members of the UPenn Alert System, instructing recipients to become familiar with the shelter locations in campus buildings in the event of a possible chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or weather-related emergency. 

As an added layer of protection, Penn’s Siren Outdoor System, Penn SOS, which consists of 15 outdoor speakers, will transmit a 15-second siren and emergency voice messages to the outdoor campus environment.

Students, staff and faculty may register for UPenn Alert at http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/UPennAlert.

In addition to the UPenn Alert and shelter-in-place drill, Public Safety and the Philadelphia Fire Department will hold the annual Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness Day as a part of the national campaign for campus fire safety and emergency preparedness.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., personnel from the PFD, along with Penn’s Fire and Emergency Services, will be at intersections across campus distributing safety literature and answering questions.

A press conference will convene at noon on Hamilton Field, located east of 40th Street between Locust Walk and Walnut Street, featuring Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and Maureen S. Rush, vice president for public safety at Penn.

In addition, the Philadelphia Fire Department’s Fire Safety Trailer, used to promote home fire safety awareness, will be at the park for tours by students, faculty, staff and visitors.

Additional information about emergency preparedness is at http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/PennReady.