2024 Emergency Notification Deep Dive
Campuses have expanded the use of their emergency notification technologies, are more satisfied with their alert systems’ coverage and quality, and have greater appreciation for importance of integration.
Campus emergency notification has come a long way since the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech mass shooting in which an active shooter fatally shot two people at an on-campus dormitory and then fatally shot 30 more people and injured 17 others on the opposite side of campus at Norris Hall about an hour and a half later.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Virginia Tech was widely criticized for not immediately notifying students, faculty, and staff about the first shooting at the dormitory. Many critics argued that had the campus community known about the initial dorm shooting, students, faculty, and staff could have taken the necessary steps to protect themselves from the gunman before he arrived at Norris Hall.
Although the Emergency Alert System (EAS) had been in existence in the U.S. since the 1950s, in 2007, most schools, institutions of higher education, and healthcare facilities had, at best, rudimentary emergency notification systems. Virginia Tech changed all that for U.S. colleges and universities.
Fast forward 17 years, and the 2024 Campus Safety Emergency Notification Survey has confirmed what many public safety, security, and emergency management practitioners have come to understand: that mass notification/alert systems are now an integral and growing part of most school, university, and hospital emergency communication programs.
Download this report to review the latest campus mass notification technology usage, coverage, integration, budget, and testing trends, and more.