This article originally appeared on KOMU 8. To view the original article, click here.
JEFFERSON CITY − Public and charter schools in Missouri can now sign up to use a new state-funded mobile emergency alerting app.
The app will allow teachers and other school staff to quickly alert school faculty and first responders to emergency situations.
Gov. Mike Parson said the state launched this app in hopes to provide safe and secure schools.
“It puts a simple to use silent alerting app into the hands of teachers and school personnel, so they can get word out of an intruder or other emergency. We will continue to advance school safety and the ability to quickly respond to threats to Missouri’s students and educators,” Parson said in a news release.
The app will be free thanks to funding from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
Last month, Missouri contracted with Raptor Technologies to provide what is referred to as a silent panic alerting system.
The app is expected to expedite and streamline emergency response by allowing teachers and other school staff to quickly send an alert through their mobile devices or computer. The silent alert works directly with 911 to provide critical information, such as location-based information and school campus maps, with first responders, law enforcement and campus personnel.
The state claims this will only take a couple of seconds.
Each district will have its own account that will link the alerts to the selected area’s first responders. Raptor will conduct training for each district, beginning with pilot schools and then district-wide training.
Missouri school districts can start enrolling in the program by going to raptortech.com/Missouri.
