May 23, 2003

Dear Colleagues:

With the latest upgrade in the national security alert level, CEPAR (the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response) today is launching its comprehensive Intranet Web site for Johns Hopkins employees: http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org/cepar/.

This Web site is linked to the Inside Hopkins Medicine site for the convenience of all our medical employees, and to the general Johns Hopkins University Web site for employees on the Homewood campus and throughout the Johns Hopkins enterprise. (http://www.jhu.edu)

The CEPAR Intranet Web site features an extensive range of information, including:

• answers to frequently asked questions about planning for and responding to critical events;
• detailed emergency procedure plans for all Johns Hopkins Institutions affiliates;
• updates on the latest SARS, smallpox and anthrax news;
  emergency telephone numbers, and links to other important Web sites, such as those for the federal government's Department of Homeland Security.

If you have not already programmed your home computer to obtain access to the Inside Hopkins Medicine Web site - and through it, to this new CEPAR Intranet Web site - you can do so by downloading the Virtual Private Network (VPN) program on your home computer.

Simply log into the VPN download Web site at https://downloads.jhsecure.jhmi.edu using your JHED username and password. (Note the "s" on "http," which stands for "secure.") Then follow the instructions.
Please take a few moments to explore this new CEPAR Intranet Web site. We hope you find it informative and helpful. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this site, please use the "Contact Us" link to let us know what you think.

Sincerely,
G.D. Kelen, M.D.
Director of CEPAR
Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine