Wearable panic button helps better protect students and educators

Key Point:

The Little Rock School District, the second largest school district in Arkansas, employs 4,000 staff members and serves 21,200 students in 48 schools and centers. One of our top priorities is how to develop and implement the best school safety practices to protect our students, staff and educators.

We are constantly evaluating and improving our systems, and after analysis we have determined that replacing our mobile panic button application for staff with a wearable panic button would better support and protect our school community.

Issues with the implementation of a mobile panic button app for school safety

Initially, we implemented the Mobile Panic Button app to comply with the requirements of the School Safety Act. The School Safety Act, enacted in 2015, required all Arkansas schools to use a specific mobile phone-based school safety app for staff to report emergencies. When we rolled out the Mobile Panic Button app, we hoped it would help address safety concerns. However, we quickly encountered widespread issues with its adoption and implementation. Many staff did not want to add the app to their personal devices and did not see its value. Of our 4,000 employees, only 20 percent downloaded the app. Teachers found it easier to dial 911 than to access and use the Mobile Panic Button app. Staff also shared concerns about privacy and the app’s reliability in areas of campus with no Wi-Fi coverage.

Following the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022, the Governor of Arkansas signed an executive order establishing the Arkansas School Safety Commission. The commission provided recommendations on school safety and allocated additional funding to implement them. The recommendations included:

Provide master keys to local law enforcement Create an information-sharing program regarding cybersecurity incidents Conduct regular unannounced safety checks Establish a statewide school safety tip line

In an effort to find new strategies and technologies for our district, our superintendent attended a safety meeting and learned about wearable panic buttons.

How a wearable panic button works

The solution is worn like a staff ID badge and allows any staff member to quickly and discreetly signal for help that is instantly received by administrators and responders. The one-button solution can alert on-campus responders such as SROs, assistant principals or nurses, or it can put the entire campus on lockdown and notify the local police department or 911 center.

Advantages of a Wearable Panic Button

The Little Rock School District security team began investigating a wearable panic button solution to see if it could increase the percentage of staff equipped to call for help in a crisis. After investigating a wearable solution, they found it offered significant advantages over a mobile panic app, including:

Faster and easier to use in an emergency than a mobile panic button app: When seconds count, staff don’t have time to search for an app on their smartphone or try to remember how to use it. And smartphones aren’t always nearby. A wearable panic button is always on, easily accessible in an emergency, and easy to use because it can trigger an alert with a single button. Addresses privacy concerns: Staff prefer wearable solutions because they don’t need to be downloaded to their personal smartphone to function. Badge-based options help protect staff privacy by not requiring a connection to a personal device. The badge only shares location information after a staff member has sent an alert. Badge-based panic buttons help reduce response times: Leading wearable panic buttons can be integrated with advanced safety platforms to notify emergency response teams of the exact location of the incident on a digital campus map. Campus-wide coverage: The leading badge-based panic button we selected doesn’t require cell service or Wi-Fi. The badge can also enable full voice and visual communication across the campus during an emergency lockdown, notifying everyone on campus of a safety threat.

Positive response to wearable panic buttons from teachers and staff

After implementing the badge system, teachers and staff responded positively. Our district has seen 100% user adoption of the badge-based wearable panic buttons.

In addition to increasing adoption and use of safety improvements, implementing safety improvements has also helped improve staff retention. Many district employees said the mobile panic buttons made them feel more protected and safer in the workplace. The safety technology has also aided in efforts to recruit new educators.

The implementation of new workplace safety protocols has provided far-reaching benefits to schools, allowing them to better support students and staff.

Ron Self, Little Rock School District

Ron Self is the director of safety and security for the Little Rock School District, the second largest school district in Arkansas.

Latest Posts by eSchool Media Contributors (View All)

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.eschoolnews.com/educational-leadership/2024/06/17/wearable-panic-button-school-safety/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos