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By Chris Hardman
Creating a safe learning environment requires attention to detail, consistency, and training—as well as the proper tools. Increasingly, the emergency management tools your school utilizes will dictate how safe your school is when dealing with the daily safety-related situations that range from low-level incidents to major threats.
But with the breadth and nuances within school safety management, how can you determine which provider is the best safety partner for your school?
Consider the following criteria when selecting your emergency management solution:
1. Ease of use
Fine motor skills deteriorate when adrenaline in the body spikes during a stressful event. Ideally, your Emergency Management solution will combine ease of use, leverage existing technology, and provide flexible, comprehensive coverage regardless of the nature of the emergency. Consider:
- Will the system interface with existing systems?
- Is the system easy to navigate and will it remain so in the face of a real-life emergency?
These are important factors that should garner significant consideration prior to purchase.
2. Emergency Alerting Capabilities
When circumstance dictate a building be placed in lockdown, there are a few key governing principals of emergency alerting that help save precious seconds.
- Eliminate potential operator error by making sure your panic alert provides large buttons that correspond to the school’s emergency response protocol vocabulary and iconography that are immediately familiar to users, giving them confidence in their ability to summon help.
- Connect the person initiating the alert directly to 911 so they can provide additional context and answer questions—allowing emergency responders to be better informed.
- Lastly, the panic button should be enabled on a mobile device. Emergencies often take place outside of static environments. A mobile panic button permits a user to initiate a lockdown instantaneously, saving time and potentially saving lives as well.
3. Tracking and Reporting Drills for State Safety Compliance
Emergency drills are a reality for nearly every K-12 school building in the United States. These drills often include practicing for lockdowns, severe weather, and fire. Often there are state mandates tied to the frequency of drills. An emergency management solution should be able to aid schools in organizing and documenting their drills, and a centralized database that shows compliance is both a valuable training tool and a way to ensure that guidelines are properly met.
4. Ability to account for everyone
Your emergency response system should enable teachers and staff to quickly see their class rosters and search for students by name, allowing them to account for any children with them who aren’t part of their class. Being able to share statuses and locations with first responders and incident commanders allows for instant communication in order to direct resources and locate anyone who may be missing during an emergency.
Including a visitor management system in your school safety ecosystem that can integrate with your emergency management software empowers teachers and staff to account for themselves as well as everyone else on campus, including not only students but also any visitors, guardians, and contractors with them as well, immediately after an alert goes out is critical.
And, as emergencies are increasingly developing situations and the location of building occupants may not be fixed, the accountability solution should be available on mobile devices and, ideally, integrated with the panic alert system so it can communicate with emergency responders.
5. Reduce confusion during reunification
If the critical incident necessitated the evacuation of a school building, there must be present a way to accurately and quickly reunite students and guardians in an organized fashion.
Reunification is a process combining many moving parts and must be conducted in a way that minimizes panic and confusion, prioritizing rejoining students with their approved guardian. Mobile technology and the ability to sync that technology with your existing electronic student database are important aspects to consider when it comes to reunification.
Choosing the right partner
All told, an emergency management solution is a large, but important, undertaking for any school district. Choosing the correct solution affects lives and must be done with careful attention paid to the comprehensive nature of the solution. The use of technology, in the hands of a well-trained staff and clear protocols are keys to success. A reputable vendor with a track record of expert service and sterling product offerings will set your district up for success. The safety of the children in our schools is a responsibility we all share.
To learn more about how Raptor can help meet your emergency management needs, schedule a demo.
Related Resources
Guide to K-12 Emergency Management
Proven Strategies to Protect Your School
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