When faculty begins on August 11, everybody engaged on a Broward County Public Faculty campus shall be sporting a brand new layer of security: a wearable panic button.
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Workers members have had entry to a panic button app on their telephones lately, however this faculty 12 months, the security measure goes hands-free. The brand new system—worn on a lanyard across the neck—provides fast entry to emergency assist whether or not inside school rooms or out on playgrounds. The know-how is already credited with saving lives in a faculty taking pictures incident in Georgia, the place employees used the identical system to information police shortly to the scene.
“Each trainer and each employees member could have a wearable panic button so whether or not it’s a medical emergency or lively shooter state of affairs, they’re gonna be empowered to press their panic button and if it’s an lively shooter, it’s straight linked to regulation enforcement to allow them to get on the scene shortly as attainable to take down the menace or triage any victims,” mentioned faculty board member Lori Alhadeff.
Alhadeff led the cost for these security upgrades by pushing for Alyssa’s Regulation, named after her daughter Alyssa, one of many 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty taking pictures in 2018. Ten states, together with Florida, have now adopted the regulation, which requires panic alert programs in public faculty school rooms.
BCPS is the first school district in Florida to supply three separate methods for workers to shortly notify first responders within the occasion of an emergency.
“Proper right here, we’ve the Centegix disaster alert badge, a brand new product that we’re trying to roll out this faculty 12 months,” mentioned Michael Gregory, Broward Faculties’ safety chief. The system resembles a bank card with a discreet button and shall be worn by each faculty worker—together with the superintendent.
“That is vital, we wish the quickest response attainable if there’s an emergency on campus, we don’t need any lag time, lag time can equate to lives misplaced,” mentioned Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn.
“The benefit is that irrespective of the place they’re, on our campuses, in school rooms, even outdoors on the kickball fields or basketball courts and playgrounds, they’ll be capable to have a panic button round their neck,” Gregory mentioned.
Whereas lively shooter conditions stay uncommon, officers word that the panic buttons will most frequently be used for medical emergencies—the place response time is simply as essential.
