Seamless Rave Panic Button Implementation Helps Kings Park, NY School District Respond to Emergencies
Customer Success Story
Seamless Rave Panic Button Implementation Helps Kings Park, NY School District Respond to Emergencies
Industry
Challenges Solved
Customer Details
Kings Park Central School District contains two elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high school
Solution
THE CHALLENGE
Despite preparation and preventative measures, there’s no way education administrators can know when an emergency will occur in one of their schools. Because an incident can happen anywhere at anytime, schools need a solution that can start improving the safety of students from the moment it is implemented.
Not all solutions can immediately provide value. Depending on what system a school employs, there may be a lengthy hardware implementation or setup. This is the case for devices like hardwired panic buttons similar to fire alarms mounted on a wall, or wearable lanyard panic buttons that oftentimes require several beacons throughout the building.
A school safety solution may also require time-consuming training for staff before it can be properly used. Getting the system up and running and staff engaged can also be a headache.
When Kings Park School District in Suffolk County, New York, adopted Rave Panic Button to assist with making their schools safer, none of these issues delayed implementation. In fact, Rave Panic Button began proving its value almost instantly.
The Solution
Superintendent Dr. Timothy Eagen had several considerations in mind when he was researching school safety options. He chose Rave Panic Button because it addressed all these concerns and more.
Dr. Eagen knew that some buildings in the Kings Park School District were partially or completely in areas with poor cell reception. He was concerned that these “dead zones” would be a problem if someone in those areas needed to dial 9-1-1 from a cell phone.
Dr. Eagen says that Rave Panic Button removed this challenge, because the system worked seamlessly over Wi-Fi. The district had just set up Wi-Fi throughout the area, which meant staff could now report incidents via the Rave Panic Button app anywhere on school grounds.
“The cell dead zones were a huge safety issue for our schools,” said Dr. Eagen. “Because Rave Panic Button functions over Wi-Fi, this massive challenge was suddenly no longer an issue.”
Despite this, some members of the community at first did not understand why calling 9-1-1 from a school landline would not suffice. However, Dr. Eagen pointed out that this approach would fail to alert key people outside of 9-1-1 about the emergency, such as key staff members who needed to be informed of the incident.
“This was a concern of mine,” said Dr. Eagen. “The school needs to simultaneously know that there’s an issue. In instances such as the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, people on the third floor of the building didn’t even know there was an active shooter, even though many 9-1-1 calls had already been placed. We took this into account when we chose Rave Panic Button.”
When Rave Panic Button is used to contact 9-1-1 or a landline 9-1-1 call is placed, key employees and staff members are notified about the nature of emergency that is underway. They are also told that first responders have been notified, which impedes multiple people reporting the same incident and flooding 9-1-1 phone lines.
“The value of Rave Panic Button is that you’re not only notifying 9-1-1 about an emergency. You’re also alerting your staff and key people in the building about what’s going on. That’s the most critical improvement that the product brings, especially as a superintendent. I’m confident that even if I’m not in my office, if there’s an issue I’m going to know about it.”
DR. TIMOTHY EAGEN,
SUPERINTENDENT
KINGS PARK, NY SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Result
“The value of Rave Panic Button is that you’re not only notifying 9-1-1 about an emergency,” said Dr. Eagen. “You’re also alerting your staff and key people in the building about what’s going on. That’s the most critical improvement that the product brings, especially as a superintendent. I’m confident that even if I’m not in my office, if there’s an issue I’m going to know about it.”
Rave Panic Button was also used when a shirtless man began causing a disturbance in a school parking lot. A staff member used the “Other 9-1-1” button option on the Rave Panic Button app, and police responded to the incident in under five minutes. Dr. Eagen was instantly notified about the event, and was able to easily follow up to ensure that students and staff
were safe.
In addition to these incidents, Kings Park has also made Rave Panic Button a cornerstone of its safety preparation by using it for drills. Staff are notified of upcoming drills via internal staff messages through the Rave Panic Button app. This is especially helpful before schools practice a lockdown drill, as it helps prevent fear and confusion among staff and students.
The staff at Kings Park schools were able to quickly learn and use the Rave Panic Button app thanks to its clear interface and accessibility. Dr. Eagen also attributes this familiarity to brief training sessions to help everyone get up to speed. Although these sessions were voluntary, Dr. Eagen says they drew two-thirds of staff. Because he had been touting the Rave Panic Button app early on, the school staff knew that it was coming to the district and were excited to try it out for themselves.
“I had been telling my community how Rave Panic Button can help improve our school’s safety for some time,” said Dr. Eagen. “Once we rolled it out to our schools, everyone was eager to get familiar with it because they knew the value it could provide when it comes to keeping our students safe.”
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