Contacting the emergency services
Students confronted with a serious emergency can, if necessary, call the emergency services on 999 to request assistance from the police, fire, or ambulance service.
Anyone who calls 999 must inform the Broad Street or Holywell Manor Lodge immediately or as soon as possible after any emergency services have been called (see emergency contacts below. This is important, as only then will the Lodge be able to assist the emergency services in reaching their appropriate destination. Alternatively, students may call the appropriate Lodge and ask them to initiate bringing in the emergency services.
If you require assistance in deciding whether to take emergency action, please contact the relevant Lodge. If for some reason the Porter is away from the Broad Street Lodge, they will be carrying the emergency mobile phone and ringing the Lodge will divert to this. You can also contact one of the Junior Deans or the Dean; if the Porter is away from the Holywell Manor Lodge, you can contact them via their emergency mobile. If one of the Junior Deans and/or the Praefectus is needed to lend assistance, the Holywell Manor Lodge Porter will telephone them.
Fire
If you suspect there is a fire, you should sound the fire alarm by activating the nearest Fire Alarm Call Point. Then dial 999 immediately from the nearest available telephone, then immediately call the Broad Street Lodge or Holywell Manor Lodge: see emergency contacts below. The Porter will have been alerted by the triggering of the fire alarm, so they will know the location of the fire, and will have responded by attending the scene and then telephoning the Fire Brigade himself by mobile phone. But you should not rely on this; you should dial 999 yourself first.
If the fire alarm sounds, Fellows, staff and students must evacuate and gather at the Assembly Point.
Medical emergencies and injuries
In a life-threatening emergency, ring for an ambulance: see above.
Automatic defibrillators are available at the Broad Street Lodge, Hall, and the Master’s Field Pavilion, and all Porters and graduate officers are trained in their use. In addition, all Lodge Porters and the Junior Deans have first-aid training.
If a student sustains any other kind of injury and requires help, contact the Nurse (term time only), or the College Doctors’ surgery (01865 240501, including access to the out-of-hours service). The Porters (see emergency contacts below) are also available to help you.
In non-urgent cases, NHS 111 can help you find out where to get help for your symptoms or repeat prescriptions and can also tell you where to get an emergency supply of your prescribed medicine. There is an Accident & Emergency department at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington, but waiting times can be several hours, so it may be best to seek help from Nurse or the College Doctors first. The Nurse can assess injuries, close and dress cuts, and discuss the likelihood of an injury requiring an X‑ray or further treatment.
Mental health emergencies
If you need immediate mental health support or someone to speak to urgently, you can:
- Call 999 to reach the emergency services
- Contact the 24/7 Mental Health Advice Line (Oxfordshire) via 111
- Call Nightline (01865 270270) or the Samaritans (tel. 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org)
- Visit the Accident and Emergency department
Armed attacks
Please see the University’s leaflet ‘What to Do in the Event of an Attack by an Armed Person or Persons’.
Safe Lodges
Balliol is part of the University’s Safe Lodge scheme. A Safe Lodge is indicated by a green circle symbol displayed by the lodge entrance, in Balliol’s case at the Broad Street and Holywell Manor Lodges. Any student in distress can go the nearest lodge displaying the sign and know that from then on they will be safe. The lodge will phone the student’s home college and, if the matter is serious, call Oxford University Security Services or the police as appropriate.
College emergency contacts
- Porters’ Lodge (Broad Street): 01865 277777
- Porters’ Lodge (Holywell Manor): 01865 271501 or emergency mobile 07501 999735
- Dean: 01865 277777
- Junior Deans (7.00pm–8.00am):
- Broad Street: 07443 092538
- Jowett Walk and Master’s Field A Block: 07470 114665
- Master’s Field and Holywell Manor (Graduate Centre): 07443 092471
NB There is not normally a Porter on duty in Jowett Walk or the Master’s Field. In an emergency, you must still inform the appropriate Lodge as soon as possible. Between 7.00pm and 8.00am, you must also alert the appropriate Junior Dean (see above) so that they can help.