Schools face a challenge when it comes to emergency protocol planning. Each school is different — the floorplans are different, the geographic locations are different, the distance from the local police station is different — and so each school has to develop its own emergency protocols based on best practices.
This challenge leaves room for improvement, and there are several ways that emergency protocols in schools can be improved.
Emergency protocol best practices include a range of matters, from lockdown protocols to fire alerts with standardized alarms that are highly regulated. In addition to these all-call type notifications, it can be extremely helpful to have additional, supplementary information in the form of visual displays.
Visual displays are capable of providing more information than just a school clock face or an audible tone that is sounded throughout the school. They can be used to provide critical information to certain rooms. For example, students in one classroom could see a message telling them to exit silently through a certain door, while students in another classroom could see a message telling them to stay in place.
Emergency systems’ initial responses work best when they are highly automated. Automation takes the human factor out of the situation and allows an immediate response, both within the school and outside of the school, if necessary.
Choosing an emergency notification platform that displays weather alerts and other emergency information automatically is an improvement for schools.It eliminates a lost time between when school officials become aware of a situation and when the student body is alerted.
Click the link below to learn more about emergency notification communication solutions for schools.