Volunteer

Looking for a meaningful way to get involved on campus? Join one of UVic’s emergency response teams and help support the safety and resilience of our community.

Volunteers assist in various roles during major emergencies. These roles offer a chance to build campus connections, develop valuable skills and contribute to a coordinated emergency response.

Building Emergency Team

Each regularly occupied campus building has a Building Emergency Plan, established Building Emergency Assembly Points and a designated Building Emergency Team. These teams help lead evacuations and keep their building’s emergency plan up to date.

During an evacuation, team members wear safety vests, guide people to the nearest safe exit and share information with emergency services. If someone needs assistance or if hazards (such as fire or smoke) are observed, they report this to first responders and their Building Emergency Team lead.

In most buildings, the teams are made up of faculty and staff volunteers. In student residences, they are Community Leaders. 

Want to help keep your building safe? Contact the emergency planner to learn how to join your Building Emergency Team and check UVic Learning Central [Filter by provider: Emergency Planning] for upcoming sessions.

Emergency Call Centre

The Emergency Call Centre is staffed by UVic employees who volunteer to play a vital role in providing information and support to the campus community during significant emergencies. Volunteers help answer incoming calls, share key messages and ensure people receive accurate, timely information when it’s needed most.

To stay prepared, the team trains two or three times per year during work hours. Each training session usually lasts about two hours.

Interested in joining the Emergency Call Centre team? Contact the emergency planning coordinator.

Emergency First Aid Unit

The Emergency First Aid Unit (EFAU) is a team of trained volunteers who provide first aid to the UVic community during major disasters—such as a damaging earthquake—when both Campus Security and BC Emergency Health Services (ambulance) are overwhelmed.

The EFAU does not provide day-to-day first aid at UVic. Their role activates only during large-scale emergencies, such as a damaging earthquake.

The EFAU is open to UVic students and employees with first aid training. The team meets once or twice a month during the regular school year. Sessions are two hours or less and focus on topics like first aid triage, first aid scenarios and supporting emergency operations at UVic’s Campus Earthquake Assembly Area.