SCHOOL SAFETY REPORT 3 Key Considerations for School Safety Task Forces
TABLE OF CONTENTS School Safety Task Forces & Technology 2 Sandy Hook AAR & FBI Active Shooter Report 3 What Have We Learned? 1 School Safety Starts with 9-1-1 5 2 Notifying Teachers & Staff Immediately Saves Time, and Lives 7 3 Floorplans & Critical Data Must Be Available to First Responders in the Field 8 Recommendation 9 Conclusion 10
School Safety Task Forces & Technology In the aftermath of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the nation has again turned its focus toward school safety. Many states have already begun the process of bringing stakeholders together through task forces, legislative committees, and working groups to discuss some of the ways that schools can better prepare for emergencies on campus, whether an active assailant attacks or a more common emergency occurs such as a medical emergency or a child goes missing. Today, more than half of all states have formed a group of stakeholders to discuss school safety, and many of them involve personnel from multiple branches of government including legislators, agency directors, public safety and first responder agencies. Some have even incorporated students, teachers, and parents into their agenda to solicit the advice of the students who will be most affected by the group s recommendations. One of the more overwhelming aspects of school safety groups can be found in the sea of products, programs, and systems that can be implemented, and the variance in references, effectiveness and scalability. While items such as bulletproof glass, steel reinforced doors, and lockboxes with weapons or other defensive tools have a place in the conversation, and can provide real benefits to hardening a campus, they are typically far more expensive and harder to implement uniformly on a statewide basis than technology-based solutions. This report will outline the key lessons learned from previous incidents, and demonstrates the multitude of ways that Rave Mobile Safety (Rave) has partnered with schools, law enforcement, 9-1-1, and government officials to integrate these best practices into technology-based solutions that improve communication, enhance coordination between staff at the schools and public safety agencies while simultaneously offering improved situational awareness to keep first responders safe. 2
Sandy Hook AAR & FBI Active Shooter Report In the aftermath of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, which took the lives of 26 people, most of whom were children aged five to six years old, the Connecticut State Police put together an After Action Report (AAR) detailing the incident, and the issues that could be addressed to better respond to emergencies that take place in a school. One of the most striking pieces of information from the Sandy Hook AAR was how quickly the event unfolded. In just six minutes, a lone gunman took the lives of twenty-six people. 1 This falls in line with the FBI Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013, which found that 69.8% of active shooter incidents end within five minutes, with more than 50% of those incidents concluding in less than two minutes. 2 With such a short window of time between the beginning and end of an event, these data points underscore the reality that teachers, faculty and staff members inside the building are the primary first responders and must be prepared to take action immediately. This makes internal communication and external collaboration between onsite personnel and 9-1-1 integral to minimizing the loss of life, and ensuring that those inside the building are immediately aware of unfolding events and updates. Recommendation A.R.18 in the Sandy Hook AAR states that 9-1-1 dispatchers should leverage NextGen chat features when possible to disseminate information rapidly to personnel involved in the incident, from teachers to officers in neighboring jurisdictions 1 Sandy Hook Shooting AAR 2 FBI: A Study of Acitve Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013 3
who may not be familiar with the location of an event. However, many cities and states have yet to deploy Next Generation 9-1-1 systems meaning that 9-1-1 dispatchers and call takers do not have access to chat and other non-verbal methods of communication, and lack the ability to communicate effectively outside of a standard 9-1-1 call. The Sandy Hook AAR (known as Issue B.I.3) also identified the lack of floorplan and schematic information on the school, which could have been leveraged by tactical teams conducting a search for the gunman and any victims or survivors. Often times, law enforcement agencies and public safety officials collect floorplan information and file it away in hard copy. This creates accessibility issues during time-sensitive events such as an active shooter, and often renders the information useless during an event. 4
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? SCHOOL SAFETY STARTS WITH 9-1-1 From the time children are old enough to use the phone, they are taught that in an emergency they should dial 9-1-1, and with good reason. 9-1-1 call takers have special training that makes them uniquely equipped to handle emergency calls. In addition to their training and professional requirements, 9-1-1 represents incident command for the response process due to the fact that only a 9-1-1 call taker and dispatcher can send the appropriate resources to the scene of an incident. Whether there is an active assailant attacks a campus, a student or staff member needs medical treatment, a fire occurs on campus, or any other type of emergency takes place, 9-1-1 has the ability to send help in a coordinated way that maximizes the capabilities of first responder agencies. 9-1-1 calls represent the first critical step in reporting an emergency, and given the intricacies of how wireless calls to 9-1-1 are routed, 9-1-1 centers need a uniform approach to coordinate a proper response. Due to cell tower locations, geographical considerations, and local laws, the closest 9-1-1 center is not always the location that a call is routed to. According to NENA, mobile phone apps used to report emergencies should never bypass a 9-1-1 call, even if they purport to notify key stakeholders and personnel. For example, a system that notifies family members or registered users about an incident, but does not dial 9-1-1 immediately can cause delays in response times, and can even lead to an overburdened 9-1-1 center as parents and family members dial 9-1-1 to report 5
something after they are notified. The failure to dial 9-1-1 also prevents the initial reporter from relaying critical information about the nature of the emergency, and any details that would assist public safety personnel as they arrive on scene such as the exact location of the event, and any extenuating circumstances such as a description of a suspect, or other relevant information. Rave has worked with public safety agencies and 9-1-1 organizations including the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO) on school safety initiatives and integrating technology with 9-1-1. APCO, the world s oldest and largest public safety communications professional s organization, hosts a portal of mobile phone apps that have been vetted and approved for use during emergencies. AppComm.org ensures the safety and efficacy of public safety applications by partnering with developers and industry experts to adhere to sets of best practices when new applications for public safety and emergency response are rolled out. By relying on the body of knowledge provided by industry professionals at both NENA and APCO, Task Forces and Committees evaluating school safety initiatives can better understand the relationship between 9-1-1 and the emergency response process, and why a mobile phone app must begin with a 9-1-1 call whenever there is an emergency on a K-12 campus. 6
NOTIFYING TEACHERS & STAFF IMMEDIATELY SAVES TIME AND LIVES Aside from making a 9-1-1 call, the immediate notification of onsite personnel including teachers, administrators, staff and other stakeholders is critical to the response process. When there is an emergency on a K-12 campus, the first-first responders are the people that work in the building. Providing them with situational data that facilitates the reaction and response to an incident can mean the difference between life and death. A school safety program must combine the traditional 9-1-1 call with simultaneous on-site notification, preferably through multiple modes of communication, in order to ensure that faculty and staff members inside the building are aware of the emergency and can react appropriately based on the school s emergency response plan. For example, during a medical emergency requiring urgent care, providing a text message and email notification to staff with medical training such as the nurse, School Resource Officer and AED/CPR certified staff members allows care to be administered prior to the arrival of EMS. During an active shooter event, notifications sent to phones and email systems ensure maximum odds of reaching staff immediately and alerting them to the threat. This in turn would allow the personnel in danger to initiate classroom lockdowns, evacuations or other protocols within seconds. 7
FLOORPLANS & CRITICAL DATA MUST BE AVAILABLE TO FIRST RESPONDERS IN THE FIELD Another key component of a robust school safety program, the presentation of actionable data to first responders prior to their arrival at the school improves situational awareness and speeds up response time. Often times, school campuses have multiple buildings or points of entry, and include athletic fields and other areas outside of the facility itself, but still on the school s property. Helping first responders understand exactly where an incident is taking place saves valuable time. This is particularly true during active assailant events and medical emergencies that require immediate intervention such as cardiac arrest where the odds of survival decrease dramatically from one minute to the next. When a person is in cardiac arrest, each minute that passes without a person providing CPR or utilizing an AED or defibrillator reduces the likelihood of survival by 7-10%. Any school safety program should involve a component that facilitates communication between the initial reporter and on-site personnel in order to provide situational information, and as a means of rallying resources during an event. For active assailants on campus, notifying all of your staff that there is a gunman on campus can reduce the time it takes to secure classrooms, or take steps outlined in a school s emergency response plan. For medical emergencies, notifying personnel with specific medical training such as the School Resource Officer or nurse can allow the victim to receive care prior to the arrival of EMS. 8
RECOMMENDATION The ability to present floorplans, schematics, class rosters, key points of contact in school administration and other critical data directly to first responders and 9-1-1 call takers when an emergency takes place is critical. The 9-1-1 industry s vision is to move to Next Generation 9-1-1 or NG9-1-1, which would allow voice, text and video to be included on 9-1-1 calls. While NG9-1-1 provides a way to send data such as floorplans, it does not provide tools to collect, store, validate, and manage this complex data. One recommended solution that bridges that data gap is Rave Panic ButtonTM from Rave Mobile Safety for instant notifications, two-way chat between 9-1-1 and onsite staff, and easily accessible floorplans and other key facility information to disseminate information rapidly to emergency personnel and other staff. The instant notification and two-way chat facilitates the delivery of critical communications to those who are in harm s way, and allows for the immediate enactment of emergency procedures, while also offering real-time information to responders to increase situational awareness in the critical seconds after an incident takes place. With most events concluding rapidly, a reliable stream of information can mean the difference between life and death, and Rave delivers these critical communications quickly and efficiently in any 9-1-1 environment. 8
Rave Panic Button allows our response teams to save precious minutes, which can be the difference between life and death. It enables us to better protect our community across the spectrum of emergency types and is an invaluable augmentation to our capabilities. Jeffrey P. Miller Chief of Emergency Communications New Castle County, Delaware CONCLUSION As we continue to look at methods of securing our schools and providing a safe learning environment for children and educators, School Safety Tasks Forces must consider interoperability and facilitating a collaborative environment between school personnel and the first responders that pledge their lives to protecting our most vulnerable residents. Rave has been, and will remain at the forefront of these conversations, and offer our expertise in public safety as a resource to the elected officials that will take up these important issues in this, and future legislative sessions. Together, we can ensure a safe and secure learning environment for our children, and, when the unthinkable does occur, we will help prepare faculty and staff to respond immediately, and protect those who are targeted by violence. LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW RAVE PANIC BUTTON CAN PROTECT YOUR SCHOOLS 888.605.7164 sales@ravemobilesafety.com