The University will TEST the emergency sirens and Alert Carolina System on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Testing the emergency sirens and the rest of the Alert Carolina System routinely is an important part of keeping the University as prepared as possible.
Since this will be the first sirens test since the gun related incidents last semester, we realize that this may be stressful for members of the University community. As such, we wanted to take a moment to remind you of some of the resources that remain available to help you:
Students:
Carolina’s Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) is a mental health provider for students and post-doctoral fellows. This includes regular, full-time undergraduate students, graduate students, Postdoctoral fellows and partners of students/post-docs who have paid the fee. CAPS provides initial assessments, brief therapy, group therapy, medication management and support for therapy referrals for off-campus providers. The Multicultural Health Program provides culturally responsive mental health support and services and works to decrease mental health stigma. To contact CAPS 24/7 call 919-966-3658.
Faculty and Staff:
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a free confidential counseling and resource program that is designed to help University employees and their families deal with both personal and work-related concerns.
Everyone at Carolina:
The Heels Care Network website is a place for all Tar Heels — undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff — to come together in support of each other and access the many mental health and well-being resources at Carolina.
Other resources available to anyone, regardless of their affiliation with the University, include the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line. You can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text START to contact the Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
While the University uses these tests to ensure that equipment and procedures work as expected, you can also use these tests to ensure that you and your friends and family are prepared for emergencies that may occur on campus. We encourage you to download the Carolina Ready Safety App and ensure that you are signed up to receive text messages from Alert Carolina so that you can be quickly notified of an emergency. While NO ACTION is required from you during the test, we encourage all community members to review the Carolina Ready website for information on what to do during an emergency. An email with more details on the test itself will be sent to the campus in the coming days.