1. Multiple Deaths or a High-Profile Death
1.1 Notification from the Incident Management Team
If there are multiple deaths or a high-profile death, you may be made aware of the incident by a member of the Incident Management Team. In this situation it is critical that you ascertain the following:
- The role that Student Services is required to carry out
- The contact details of any emergency services that are involved
- The line of reporting to the Incident Management Team and relevant contact details
- The contact details for the communications team.
1.2 Notifying the Incident Management Team
The Incident Management Team must be informed of multiple deaths or a high-profile death that they are not aware of. They can be notified by calling 01332 597777 (x7777).
In the case of multiple deaths or a high-profile death, it may be necessary to establish a Student Services response team.
2. Supporting emergency services
Emergency services may need support in a number of areas, such as:
- Providing required information, such as emergency contact details, the deceased student’s address, etc.
- Providing support to other occupants If accommodation is searched
- Providing support to locate students as required
- Supporting students during and after Police interviews.
3. Receiving Information
3.1 Obtain details of the student(s) who have died, as appropriate:
- Name
- Programme
- Student number and date of birth
- Circumstances of death
- The details of those who are aware of the death
- The name, relationship to student and contact details of the person reporting the death
- How they have been made aware of the death.
3.2 For future communication, inform the person reporting the death of your contact details.
3.3 If the person reporting is a family member, friend, fellow student or any person who may personally be affected by the death, assess their need for support and inform them of the support that is available to them.
4. Verifying the Death
4.1 If the report hasn’t been made by a family member or a reliable source such as emergency services, or made indirectly by family (for example, by contacting another area of the University), the death must be verified.
4.2 Wherever possible this should be done without making direct contact with the family. The student’s Facebook page, other social media, announcements and news articles may be a good source of information.
4.3 Depending on the circumstances, the Programme team, housemates, Hall staff and others may be able to provide further information.
4.4 Although every effort should be made to verify the death, this must be done in full consideration of the impact on others and in adherence with the Student Wellbeing Confidentiality Policy.
5. Maintaining and Managing Records
5.1 Create a PeopleSoft Incident Record.
5.2 Add the student’s personal and contact details from the Student Summary screen.
5.3 To ensure that contact details are not available to others, notify the Student Records and Awards team by email and request for the student’s record to be updated. Example emails can be found in Appendix 1.
5.4 Maintain the PeopleSoft Incident Record.
6. Communication
There may be occasions when we are aware of the death of a student prior to family being informed and/or the body being formally identified. On these occasions, communication should not be made outside of the university notifications detailed below. In these notifications the student should not be named, and it should be explicitly stated that the family have not been informed and/or that the body has not been formally identified.
7. University notifications
7.1 If the Incident Management Team are not aware of the death(s), send notification of death by email to the 1st and 2nd Group (Appendix 2). An example email can be found in Appendix 3.
7.2 Send further updates as appropriate.
8. Communication with the Programme and students
8.1 Once the body has been formally identified and the family have been notified, staff and students can then be informed The following actions should be prioritised, depending on the individual situation.
8.2 Contact the Programme Leader or an appropriate member of the Programme Team:
- Ensure that the Programme Team know how they can access support for themselves.
- Identify where the cohort are and those closest to the deceased student.
- Ensure that the Programme Team understand that you are the point of contact for the incident and that all relevant information and communications should come through you.
8.3 Discuss the best approach of communicating to the student group. Due to the speed of communication by social media in the majority of cases, this should be by email (an example is shown in Appendix 4). This will provide the best opportunity to inform the student group before they receive the information through other sources.
If the student group are in lectures, you may arrange to attend the lecture and provide information and details of the support available.
If the student group aren’t in lectures, arrange a date to attend their next lecture, as appropriate, to provide information and details of support available.
8.4 Contact the Head of Membership, US or their deputy, and request details of the deceased’s involvement with the US and names of students that would have known the student through these activities.
8.5 Identify where the student was living and contact housemates to provide information and support, as appropriate.
9. Providing support
9.1 It is common for students affected by a student death to want to continue to receive support from the member of staff who they have initial contact with. Therefore, to ensure that staff have adequate capacity to respond, a team of staff who can act as a Key Contact for identified students, should be formed.
9.2 A Key Contact should, whenever possible, make the initial contact with the student. Each Key Contact should ideally have no more than 3 students to support. The Key Contact should ensure that those affected understand the support that is available and how to access it.
9.3 If any students have experienced a traumatic situation, such as finding the deceased student, they should be matched with a member of staff trained to respond to trauma.
9.4 The Student Wellbeing Centre can provide support to identify those staff who are available to respond and any relevant specialist skills.
9.5 Staff personal contact numbers can be accessed through the MyHR system. If it is not possible to access this system, staff can be contacted via the Student Services Manager or the Health and Wellbeing Team Manager.
10. Communication with Family
10.1 Should there have been no contact with the family, attempt this indirectly in the first instance. This may be achieved by leaving your contact details with any appropriate agency who have contact with the family, such as the Police, funeral services, etc., and ask for them to be passed to the family.
10.2 If contact has not been achieved and we do not understand the funeral arrangements and the family’s wishes regarding attendance, contact should be made. When making contact, introduce yourself and inform the family member that you are their point of contact, within the University, for anything that they may need support with.
10.3 If, during the conversation that follows, the funeral arrangements have not been discussed, ask if they have considered whether they would like fellow students, friends and academic staff to attend / be informed of the funeral and if appropriate, ask if they are having flowers at the funeral
10.4 Ensure that you leave your contact details for ongoing communication and / or agree a time to make contact again.
10.5 Write a draft letter of condolence to be sent to the family from the Vice-Chancellor. An example letter can be found in Appendix 5. The timing of this letter should be considered carefully and should be sent to the Vice-Chancellor by email attachment.
10.6 At an appropriate time, ask the family if they would like the deceased’s details entered into the Book of Remembrance, held in the Multi-Faith Centre. If the details are to be entered into the Book of Remembrance, provide the necessary details to the Chaplain
10.7 Notify SFE that the student is deceased, and inform the family that they will need to provide a copy of the Death Certificate to SFE.
11. Funeral Arrangements
11.1 If appropriate, make a request to the PA to the Student Services Manager to organise flowers to be sent on behalf of the University. In the request provide the message for the card.
11.2 In line with the family’s wishes, ensure that staff and students are made aware of the funeral arrangements.
11.3 If staff and students are attending the funeral, organise support, transport, etc. as required.
11.4 If staff and /or students are not able to attend the funeral, discuss with Chaplaincy alternative responses, to provide an opportunity for shared remembrance and reflection
12. Maintaining your own wellbeing
Responding to a student death can create a higher level of workload, with longer working hours and the need to support a large number of people who are distressed. It is therefore imperative that staff ensure that they are monitoring the impact on themselves and their colleagues, and that they access support as required.