Raptor Helps Onslow County Schools Refine Their Emergency Response

Onslow County Schools (OCS) is the 11th largest district in the state of North Carolina with over 28,000 students currently enrolled.

“Raptor is open to listening to us, the end user, when we have recommendations on features we’d like to see, and I can’t stress enough that law enforcement is on board with Raptor. They love it and have us continually train their new officers when they come on board. It’s really easy on our side with regards to putting in plans and maps, and the benefits outweigh anything that we do.”

Dusty Rhodes, Director of Safety and Security at Onslow County Schools

The Challenge

Onslow Country Schools (OCS) was in need of a mobile, user-friendly option for emergency communication

The panic alert system OCS used prior to partnering with Raptor could only be initiated from a computer— but emergency situations requiring an alert don’t always happen when staff is in front of a computer. They needed a more mobile option that would empower them with two-way communication from wherever they were on campus.

Uncertainty of what reunification would look like

The district, never having practiced reunification, had a lot of questions about the procedures they’d planned. Finding a school safety partner to help them through planning a reunification was critical.

How Raptor Helped

STREAMLINED EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION

Raptor Emergency Management includes Raptor Alert, which expedites calling 911 for help—and because Raptor integrates with 911, the caller’s precise location, type of emergency, and callback number is automatically shared with dispatchers. Raptor Alert supports standard E911 services, is RapidSOS Ready, and is fully compatible with all standard Public Safety Answering Points and emergency calling infrastructure.

Using the group chat feature which includes a general channel and an administrator channel—in Raptor Alert, OCS staff can also readily communicate details about the emergency internally.

PRACTICING REUNIFICATION

Reunification can be a complex and chaotic process—so having an experienced safety partner like Raptor help them through the planning process and practicing reunification gave them the insight they need to respond confidently to any situation.

“We’d never had to do an off-site reunification, so to have the Raptor staff walk us through that, it was eye opening. It told us so much more than what we thought we knew. It has definitely impacted our plans and we are adjusting to create a reunification team and schedule periodic trainings to stay up to date.”

Dusty Rhodes, Director of Safety and Security at Onslow County Schools

The Results

Emergency Communication

In addition to easing communication within a school experiencing an emergency, OCS is able to communicate with their surrounding schools through Raptor to keep them abreast of the situation.

Reunification Process Improvements

By working through their reunification process and practicing their procedures, OCS has been able to allocate the resources they need so they’re available when they’ll need them most. And, through Raptor Emergency Management’s Accountability feature—which integrates with their student information system—they are confident in their ability to account for every student and staff member during emergencies.

Learn more about Raptor

The Raptor software ecosystem ties together the critical aspects of school safety, from prevention through recovery. Find out how we can work together in our mutual goals of protecting every child, every school, every day.

Onslow County Schools (OCS),
Jacksonville, NC

In need of a mobile, user-friendly option for emergency communication
Uncertainty of what reunification would look like

Raptor Emergency Management

Streamlined and accessible emergency communication
Practiced and refined their reunification process