Emergency management officials in Michigan are approaching the increasing problem of school shootings by funding notification apps, allowing multiple outlets for informing police when incidents occur, according to The Detroit News.
Teachers at Grand Ledge Public Schools can use a panic button app on their phones to notify 911 during an emergency, when they may be unable to call.
The app allows teachers to indicate the type of emergency: active shooter, fire, police, AED (automated external defibrillator) and other, calling 911 and sending out a mass alert to other school officials.
The system, which has been growing in use since its first introduction a few years ago, has been adopted by 15 out of 16 of the country’s districts, according to The Detroit News. The app’s use across the US covers three million students, Rave Mobile Safety COO Todd Miller told the paper.
Nonetheless, officials such as Kenneth S. Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, told The Detroit News that these apps should be only one of the elements of school safety planning, due to factors such as limited Wi-Fi in rural areas, or lack of smart phones.
“Schools need to make sure they have practical building-level school emergency plans,” he said to The Detroit News. “…They need staff training on security and emergency preparedness. They need to create a culture for a student to make reports on threats and provide mental health services to prevent these types of events in the first place.”
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