Campus Safety and Crisis Mgt – Coordination & Collaboration

Greg Kovich

January 16, 2019

Whether a primary, secondary, or post-secondary institution, collaborating with professional first responders in a time of crisis is a requirement.

In my first blog on campus safety and crisis management, I describe 3 stages of crisis management and discuss the advantages of integrating critical sensors and devices into an ‘early warning system.’ The stages include:

1. Awareness

2. Coordination and collaboration with professionals

3. Mass notification

These 3 stages are intertwined – awareness bolsters coordination and collaboration, which supports mass notification.

Whether a primary, secondary, or post-secondary institution, collaborating with professional first responders in a time of crisis is a requirement. Normally, that interaction will occur on site, just before or after the event.

Imagine a scenario where you could:

• Share video surveillance feeds with firemen before they arrive.

• Discuss how to handle the situation with emergency medical technicians.

• Coordinate with the police on evacuation locations, so the first responders don’t conflict with fleeing students and staff.

All of this is possible with mobile applications. In fact, when a sensor or device alarms or a 911/112 call is initiated, internal and external personnel will automatically receive an alert and connect them together in a virtual conference room. This virtual conference room is a fully recorded, secure location for real-time document sharing, viewing of surveillance camera feeds, and control center screen sharing. Even more, recordings can be shared and reviewed for future safety plan updates.

Coordinating and collaborating with first responders is the second step in providing a safe learning environment.

In a time of crisis, swift action is critical. Informed decisions rely on collaborating with professionals. If you can accelerate that discussion, you can begin the final stage of crisis management – alerting your population via mass notification.

In the next blog, I will write about the final stage, mass notification.

If you’d like to learn more about our campus safety and crisis management solutions, please visit the links for podcasts, brochures, white papers, customer references, and thought leadership videos.