How to Access Mobile Emergency Plans
In the days and months after the Sandy Hook school shootings in 2012, authorities and administrators worked hard to identify what went wrong and how such a terrible tragedy could be prevented in the future. Many concerns were raised, ranging from the state of the mental health system to the ease of accessibility to guns in America. But one clear concern emerged across the board, from parents and students alike: more effective communication was needed from schools on how to implement safety plans as well as how to communicate before, during and after a crisis. 

In university settings, such as at Providence College and Northwest Missouri State University, where many people need to access the emergency response plans, it is imperative that there be a central place where the plans can be obtained quickly and easily from any location. Numerous colleges have made access to iOS and Android mobile apps available on their websites.

“There is a tremendous amount of great emergency information right at our community’s fingertips, and helping our students and employees know what to do when a crisis situation occurs is a top priority at Northwest. This technology gives us another tool to further enhance the safety of our community,” Ceperley claims.

Likewise, at the K-12 level, emergency response plans can be made accessible to teachers, staff, bus drivers, first responders and parents via a school’s website, the App Store or even via email.

Palmer Trinity School, a Miami-area independent school with more than 700 students in grades six through 12, sought a mobile safety platform to empower staff with the most up-to-date safety procedures. The solution also helps create a safer teaching
and learning environment by guaranteeing that emergency plans are quickly available on staff’s mobile devices. Given that 79% of smartphone users have their phones with them for 22 hours a day (according to SchoolDude), mobile devices certainly have the ability to reach a wide audience quite easily.

Level of Access Can Vary, Depending on User
The level of access given to differing end-users will of course vary based on their roles and responsibilities during the crisis. Student accessibility is different from those of faculty and first responders, and certain sensitive information such as where first responders are to go or where cut-off switches are located are not accessible by all users, and are password protected.

Importantly, when a faculty or staff member leaves the school, mobile apps are designed to withhold access to the ever-changing emergency plans. Gone are the days when emergency action plans were made available to anyone and everyone who wanted to see them.

For college campuses and school districts, another often-overlooked benefit of mobile-enabled emergency action planning is the tracking capabilities. Mobile crisis management apps can be used to report incidents in real-time, track students during an incident (roll call) and assess how the response to the crisis went afterwards.

Time is of the essence, so the ability to report an incident while it is occurring is integral to a successful crisis management plan. Many mobile technology apps offer incident reporting as well as real-time feedback. The mobile device provides the end-user access to all the phone numbers necessary for every type of emergency (e.g., bullying, sexual assault, bomb threat, etc.). Some apps can even provide students with information and guidance on issues such as aggression, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, psychotic behaviors, substance abuse and suicide risk. For students who are looking for the right person to contact, there is often an easy place to “Get Help Now,” along with contact information.

During an actual crisis, it is helpful to have the ability to locate students and staff (roll call) in a way that does not reveal their location to those who are not intended to know, such as an active shooter. In the event of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or tornado, the apps can make use of GPS technology to locate individuals. Mobile-enabled emergency plans are equipped with real-time roll call capabilities, and rosters can be continually updated so that they have the most up-to-date contact information – and even photos – available at the time of crisis.

Mobile-enabled emergency response plans often come with complete reporting functionality, so that all recorded and stored messages that transpired during an event can be found in one aggregated location, thereby allowing for better reporting after the crisis is over. This may include forms for collecting information for future use, so that the plans can be reviewed and improved for years to come.

“There is a tremendous amount of great emergency information right at our community’s fingertips, and helping our students and employees know what to do when a crisis situation occurs is a top priority at Northwest,” says Ceperley. “This technology gives us another tool to further enhance the safety of our community.”

Nick Mirisis is the director of marketing and business development for SchoolDude.

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