If a student at an elementary school has an emergency on the playground, how does the teacher get help? For schools lacking innovative crisis response technology, the teacher might have to leave the child behind to notify the front office of the situation and relay the information for the office to call 911, before returning to the student. What are some potential problems with this school safety plan?
Implementing effective communication and technology tools improves emergency preparedness and response. We have the technology to directly communicate with others around the world in a fraction of a second. Why not use rapid and efficient technology to communicate with others on campus? The ability to use direct communication and locating technology can improve the way schools handle emergencies, from medical incidents to potential threats.
Include Law Enforcement in your School Safety Plan
Prevention paves the way for a positive future. A cohesive strategy helps make school a safe space for people to educate and learn. Whether someone has special needs or health issues, school staff and students always want to feel safe.
A reliable, comprehensive strategy integrates law enforcement. Collaborate with your Safety Resource Officer (SRO) and local law enforcement to establish a unified emergency response protocol. This partnership creates open communication channels, clearly defined roles, and resources that are readily available when needed most. Tracey Whaley, Chief of Police for Douglas County Schools in Georgia, said that CrisisAlert is the best tool that he has seen to keep schools safe in his 15 years.
Work with Your SRO or Local Law Enforcement
A school resource officer (SRO) helps maintain a safe and secure school environment. CENTEGIX® recognizes the significance of this role and has designed innovative safety technology that offers direct communication with local 911 dispatch. During an emergency, CENTEGIX offers technology with mapping capabilities that can identify the precise location where assistance is needed in a crisis. Additionally, the CrisisAlert™ badge allows teachers to request immediate help with the press of a button.
Even if Wi-Fi is not available, the CENTEGIX Safety Platform™ maintains its integrity. CrisisAlert™ is powered via its own private network. It will not interfere with an existing internet network and can be configured with other safety and security protocols.
Create channels for communication and use technology that supports swift decision-making in real time. A finely tuned school safety plan is up to date and reflects the latest safety trends. Keeping up with safety advancements is essential to keeping communities safe. First response personnel, like Chief of Security and Emergency Management at Hillsborough County Schools (FL), John Newman, rave that CENTEGIX makes “drills much more efficient [and] much more meaningful”. With the right tools and data, schools will pave the way for mitigating potential harm in a community.
Clear Communication and Direct Connection
School staff need the ability to communicate their location rapidly and accurately. CENTEGIX technology works together with the “I Love U Guys” Foundation and aligns with Standard Response Protocol™ (SRP). SRP emphasizes clear communication during emergencies. The CENTEGIX Safety Platform is designed to make communication clear and effective.
Because response time is so crucial in emergencies, CENTEGIX connects directly with 911 dispatch or local law enforcement depending on the needs of the organization. The technology is specially designed to seamlessly work with the existing capabilities of local law enforcement and first-responder technology.
Every second matters in the event of an emergency. During a panel for CENTEGIX, Dr. Jim McMullen of Olathe Public Schools stated, “anytime you can take the human error out of notifying folks, I think it’s critical and it certainly speeds everything up.” A direct communication pathway makes it easier for law enforcement to understand the scope of an emergency and deploy appropriate resources. Including reliable technology in your school safety plan can expedite communication and medical response. When you make staff and students feel that their community is healthy and safe, they will be more confident showing up each day.
Volunteers and Visitors
Visitors roaming a school’s campus can present an additional risk, especially in an emergency situation. How do you know who is entering and leaving a building? Is your current protocol foolproof?
Innovative technology, like CENTEGIX Visitor Management, runs checks of all visitors through multiple databases and standardizes proper identification and authorization. Office staff can alert law enforcement if someone arrives who shouldn’t be there.
In the past, school visitors could enter and leave a school building with a written visitor pass. As new technologies have emerged, school administrators have realized the importance of using the most innovative technology to keep staff and students safe. A paper pass simply doesn’t do the trick anymore. Innovative tools such as the CENTEGIX Visitor Management indicate who is inside any building on campus and their reasons for being there.
Knowing a visitor’s location reduces the risk of something going amiss. The Enhanced Visitor Management feature adds a layer of security to your school safety plan by offering a wearable visitor badge. This badge can locate visitors in real-time, mapping their exact location and giving first responders the information they need to make informed decisions while responding to emergency situations.
CENTEGIX Impact on Communities
Former superintendent Jay Floyd witnessed the impact of the CENTEGIX Safety Platform firsthand. He shared how first responders in his district were impacted seeing the solution work in person for the first time.
“I remember the first meeting that I had at the time. I actually went to the 911 center and wanted to see how it operated from the 911 center standpoint…We also set up the desktop takeover for 911. I had several police officers there. And when they saw what would occur in an actual event, if there was a lockdown, it was silence…I was hearing them say things like, Mr. Floyd, you just don’t know. This is a game changer. Not only are we going directly to that school, but we’re going right here to that entrance, closest to that classroom right now.”
First responders recognize how the CENTEGIX Safety Platform empowers schools to take every step necessary to foster rapid crisis response.
Decreasing Response Times: A Crucial Goal
Rapid response times are imperative in emergencies, and CENTEGIX is a leader in delivering technology that enables precisely that. Valuable lessons are gleaned from analyzing scenarios where response times could have been improved. Superintendent Stacey Locke benefited from the efficiency and speed of CrisisAlert. She says, “for our staff, it has been mindblowing [with the badge and the safety network, having access to CENTEGIX technology], they now feel valued. We now have 2,000 additional eyes and ears on the safety of not only Yakima School District, but also the community as a whole and I can tell you what a difference that has made when we talk about a comprehensive culture of safety.” Equip your school safety plan with intelligent technology that communicates directly with law enforcement. Quick and effective communication reduces response times and saves lives.
Embracing a School Safety Plan with Innovative Crisis Response Technology
The Digital Age poses a new potential for possible emergencies. New technology means new problems but also new solutions. CENTEGIX provides real-time data and stores the data so it can be analyzed over time. Analyzing this data helps support and mitigate emergencies in the future.
To empower schools, teachers, and staff, they need the tools to communicate, coordinate, and respond rapidly during crises. Every additional step implemented to communicate with first responders is another layer that adds time to the response. CENTEGIX safety solutions eliminate the need to use a cell phone or take extra steps to communicate a crisis.
Working hand-in-hand with law enforcement, the Safety Platform seamlessly integrates with existing systems to provide precise location data, giving responders the critical information they need.
CENTEGIX is here to support your school’s simple and effective emergency response protocol. Together, we work to secure a safer future for our schools.
