Delaware’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security has contracted a Massachusetts company - Rave Mobile Safety - to bring its safety app to First State schools.
The Rave Panic Button app notifies first responders with the exact building where an emergency has occurred. While it calls 911, the app simultaneously sends out a notification to staff members, alerting them to an emergency, such as fire, medical and police.
New Castle County schools are already using the app. Rave Mobile Safety officials say NCCo government paid to launch it there in 2015. Now state funding is bringing it to Kent and Sussex Counties.
One Sussex district, Sussex Tech, rolled it out early.
District spokesman Dan Shortridge says staff there are already using the app, in partnership with the Sussex County Emergency Operation Center.
“The goal is to decrease response times, alert responders to a specific location on campus and notify our staff members on site in the event we do have an emergency,” Shirtridge said.
Shortridge adds the app is very simple to use.
“It’s two taps and you can notify first responders, he said. "I’ve got it open on my phone right now and it’s one tap to open and then five buttons. And that’s as simple as it gets.”
Shortridge says given the incidents schools across the country have experienced in recent years, this app is an important tool.
"We have a very strong school safety program - we conduct intruder drills several times a year - our staff gets training on a variety of topics and our climate officers are constantly monitoring our campus. But this is a new tool that all of our staff can use if we have an emergency situation," said Shortridge. "It’s simple, it’s quick and it’s accurate. You know the saying - prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Shortridge points out that state legislators “recognized the importanceof these kinds of tools.” and made funding available to add the app in Kent and Sussex.
