Emergency Response Systems for Threat Mitigation and More
A setup of security apps, cameras, panic buttons, intercoms, and pagers helps different institutions and organizations bolster their emergency services for active responses by following real-time events. Earlier, such technology was absent or underdeveloped. Due to this, responders often took time to stitch together different pieces of information to arrive at a plan. Consequently, it contributed little or nothing. But modern automated emergency solutions cut out human errors by eliminating the dependency on someone to alert the authorities on spotting a development of an unfavorable situation. Many people typically get panicky during emergencies, so this technology becomes essential.
The basic requirements in emergencies
Before looking for a reliable emergency mass notification system, it would help to know the steps one should take during crises. The first thing can be threat assessment to understand the nature of an emergency, such as a shooting or large-scale accident. Suppose you own a school and spot a few gun-wielding masked individuals advancing toward the building. Your immediate step must be to inform authorities rather than wait for them to enter the campus. The next step can be to notify people in the school. But when you educate students on the potentially threatening situation, they can talk to their parents, who will gather around the building. Humanly it’s impractical to be thorough with this approach.
However, mass notification systems can trigger automatic communication to target groups, preventing the risk of rumors that can make the situation more challenging to manage. With the help of video cameras, public address systems, access control, and others, it has become easy to monitor events outside and keep everyone informed inside. You can hit a panic button on your desk or somewhere else to alert the first responders. Also, mass notification solutions allow you to coordinate with various agencies simultaneously to pursue the same goal. Otherwise, every group will operate in a silo, leading to worse consequences. With reunification, everyone can be in the loop.
Some people think that dialing 911 in emergencies can be enough. But one must know that these calls require up to 3 1/2 minutes on average for a response. While this wait time may mean nothing ordinarily, emergencies are like ticking time bombs that can escalate quickly. Three minutes can be enough for active shooters to wreak havoc in a school. Again, humans face limitations, but tech-enabled emergency systems have a wider reach. They can alert different law enforcement centers simultaneously. Due to lower response time, multiple agencies can be available within a few seconds to help.
Again, let’s consider school as an example. If it uses an emergency mass notification solution, the institution can contact the fire department, sheriffs, emergency management cell, local PD, and others simultaneously. Teams can gather at the place of the incident without waiting for someone from the school to update them outside the premises and get guidance. The alerts will contain details for clarity, such as an address, school name, emergency type, room number, etc. As for components that can help trigger the alert can be apps, panic buttons, etc.
Places requiring emergency response systems
According to CTN News, You need to figure out more than knowing whether it’s a shooting threat or something else. Many things can be unpredictable. However, a practice session dealing with everyday scenarios like these can be better. When you discuss things with EMS, law enforcement, and others, everyone knows their responsibility. Because the school has been the typical example, one can assume only academic institutions need emergency tech solutions. Please don’t make this mistake. Every place, including corporate offices, retail, hospitals, manufacturing facilities, and others, needs them. You can save many lives at your workplace with proper systems in place. If one part of the building is in danger, you can communicate with other corners in the same premises to lock down with immediate effect. The mass notification system can alert everyone in one go to prepare for the approaching danger.
Choosing emergency notification systems
Options can be bewildering. You can sort out your concern by focusing on a few critical areas. For instance, mobile-friendly alerting systems can be advantageous. People tend to move around, away from their seats. Hence, select a system that can deliver urgent messages across different mediums, such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, etc. It should be able to leverage emails, text messaging, push notifications, voice commands, and others. If you get something with language preference settings, it’s good. Experts also say that utilizing numerous channels for alerts is the best as it ensures more comprehensive coverage in an impacted area. Suppose an intense hurricane afflicts an area. In that condition, one or two communication channels will be down. But the multi-model system can still carry crucial information to the intended audience.
Interestingly, some companies offer systems that provide two-way communication and voting options. These features help people to notify if they are safe or need help. Such processes can relieve the troubled person’s stress. Anyway, you must ensure the smooth integration of mass notification systems with existing apps or software. For instance, updating the contact list for emergency reach-out can be necessary. If you can integrate your new system with the existing app to pull up critical data, your job will be over in half the time without any error.
In a hurry, you can buy anything. However, these safety and security defense mechanisms require proper contemplation. You must understand the needs of your environment. For instance, you can be a multi-location office. Due to this, you may have different leaders to participate in the response plans. Plus, something that helps with automatic escalation can be palpable. Features like polling and two-way interactions also play an essential part. So, take your time and sit down with all the stakeholders to study different scenarios and plan well. Spending money on something that serves current needs and doesn’t scale can waste resources and time. If your company is in the US and other parts of the world, you would need a system that facilitates messaging across all the regions. At the same time, some situations can demand automated scheduling because of different time zones. Hence, it’s essential to consider all these.
