OHIO — Connected technology in schools helps protect thousands of students in emergency situations every year.
What you need to know 911 Inform allows dispatchers to see where people are in the building before the call is connected to police. Your details are shown to emergency personnel so they can enter specific areas of the building themselves with the push of a button. Schools can also be placed on lockdown through the system. It also notifies everyone in the building and appropriate personnel that there is a medical emergency.
“911 Inform connects to the school's technology, including all cameras, doors, paging systems and phones,” said Ivo Allen, CEO of 911 Inform, “so when an emergency occurs, whether it's a call to 911, a panic button or some kind of triggering event, 911 Inform connects the caller with police and all school personnel in real time.”
He said the technology would also allow operators to see if a caller is within the camera's field of view and allow for tracking of people within a building.
“Everybody's putting more and more software into schools, but it's not being used in an emergency. If you look at a typical medical emergency or a typical active shooter situation, it's over in eight minutes,” Allen said.
Essentially, there's no way for emergency responders to see in real time or have complete understanding of what's happening on the scene. Allen saw this as a flaw in the system and decided to do something about it. The system is now being implemented in schools across the country, including Ohio.
“We've seen an approximately 60% reduction in response times to emergencies,” Allen said. “If there's a fight in the cafeteria, if there's a fight at a football game, if there's a mental health issue, people can go to the phone, dial a code, press a button and create a major medical emergency.”
