Innovative Tech That Saves Student Lives: Communication and Police Response Time
Sure enough, someone with a brilliant mind will create something to fulfill that need when there is a need. Andrew Pollack comes to mind. He lost his daughter, Meadow, in the Parkland school shooting.
The need for modern technology to end and reduce school shootings is constant. After all, that is why Protecting Our Students (POS) was created. POS created its cutting-edge assessment app, POSSafetyNet℠, because of a need to make campuses safer and more secure in preventing an active shooter situation.
The most important and initial strategy a school can do to prevent a shooting is to undergo a POSSafetyNet℠ risk assessment, the most critical component in identifying deficiencies to prevent a shooting situation.
Technological advances are crucial to quicken communication and response times in violent situations on campuses. These advances save lives.
Andrew Pollack’s School Safety Grant Website
Via Twitter: Fast and seamless notification and communications with local police departments are possible with new technology. Please apply for the School Safety Grant, and your school can get it free! #SchoolSecurity #SchoolSafety #SafetyPlan #SSG https://buff.ly/3cPvqUG
Five signs your school needs a better safety program
One organization that is paving the way to reduce response time and secure schools is School Safety Grant (SSG). SSG gives schools across the nation the opportunity to apply for a safety grant. When awarded a grant, schools are directly connected with their local police departments to revitalize their current safety systems adding new technology to reduce response times to threatening situations on campus. SSG has multiple options that can be provided to a school to ensure its student and staff’s safety and provide for quicker response times from law enforcement, fire, and medical help.
This is where new technology comes into play. SSG has many lines of defense to protect students and staff during shooter situations. SaferWatch is their technology that allows a user to report an incident from their smartphone or tablet. Instantly the appropriate agency is notified, all while the app transmits the user’s physical location. This technology not only reduces response times but also provides for an exact location of a situation.
One-Press Button Technology
Understandably, being involved in an active shooter situation creates widespread panic for all those involved. While the first thought might be to hide and or take cover, the idea of calling 911 is also a prevalent and important one. To contact 911, one must have a phone on them in the first place, proceed to dial, perhaps wait a few seconds for someone to pick up, and then somehow articulate through fear over the phone to the operator what is happening. Let us not forget that having to talk or even whisper could catch the attention of the shooter. Press of the button technology to alert first responders cut down response times and can also be done quietly and discreetly without alerting the shooter. In addition, push of the button technology can be used on a smartphone and a tablet, or computer.
In addition to alerting the proper authorities of a situation, push of the button technology can alert first responders to where the problem is taking place. The last thing any responding agency wants to do is get on the scene and blindly walk around. This not only wastes time which can cost lives but also puts first responders’ lives in jeopardy. Seconds can literally be the difference between life and death. As active and mass shootings in our schools continue to increase, decreasing response times is one of the best ways to save lives. According to the article “Between Shots Fired and Shooter Down: Managing the Response Gap and Platinum Minutes: “The “response gap” is the time between when the first shot is fired and the arrival of police and others emergency responders. The incident change dynamics change quickly when police arrive and the shooter transitions from being the hunter to the hunted. Roughly half of such events end with the shooter taking their own life. In the response gap, those inside the active shooter incident are the initial first responders, and what they do or do not do can have life and death consequences.
Weapon Detection Technology
Another form of technology aimed at reducing and or eliminating school shootings is weapon detection from School Safety Grant’s advancement technology. This technology utilizes security cameras to quickly identify a gun, alerting someone with monitoring capability allowing that threat to be confirmed or denied. Within seconds of confirming a gun is indeed on campus, the proper authorities can then be dispatched before shots are fired. Advanced technology will dispatch authorities and have the capability to lock classroom doors and alert staff to a situation that would provide extra critical moments for teachers and students to put their drill training to use.
There is great technology out there to reduce response times and create clear communication lines. Technology varies from preventing violence to reducing the number of victims. Many great people and organizations are significantly contributing to reducing and ending the violence and death associated with school shootings. Ending campus violence will not happen overnight, nor can it be done without many people’s help and support. We are honored and appreciative that School Safety Grand and POS can have a hand in the mission to end and reduce school shootings. After all, ensuring the safety of all students and staff is the most critical priority.
