subject: Today's Emergency Management Solutions [print this page] Ever since the World Trade Center attacks and recent violent shootings at schools, emergency management has moved to the forefront of everyone's minds. Office buildings, transit systems, and especially schools and universities have put new emphasis on their emergency systems. The Department of Education has set forth rules in the Higher Education Opportunity Act to guide universities in their mass notification systems for emergency situations. Institutions must also submit annual reports to ensure compliance of their emergency plans.
Meeting these needs for both students' well-being and staying in compliance is the challenge facing today's administrations. In order for a system to be both effective and within guidelines, timely delivery of messages must be combined with multiple delivery avenues. Periodically, these precautions have to be documented and any use of the system has to be recorded and reported.
Timely Emergency Notification System
The cornerstone of emergency management is the ability to deliver messages in real time in a concise manner. As soon as threats are made apparent, emergency messages have to be conveyed to affected persons. In addition, when crimes are reported to local police and security agencies, that information must also be transmitted to students and faculty. In situations where a hazard is still developing, a notification system must be in place to keep people informed as well as providing follow up information.
Timely notification defines the ultimate purpose of federal guidelines for emergency management. In a potential life or death situation, every moment is the opportunity to save another life. Instantaneous communication systems are absolutely essential in this regard. Redundancy in notification systems ensures that students and faculty can stay abreast of any situation even if the central messaging system fails. Having remote access to the emergency messaging system is how staff can handle problems with the emergency system.
Combined with quick delivery, using multiple methods for disseminating information is the second key to emergency management.
Delivering Messages
Having only one way to communicate with students and faculty is not sufficient in an emergency. Even with electronic message placards liberally placed on campus, there are many places where people cannot receive that message and be unaware of a developing emergency. Effective emergency management systems have to include multiple avenues for delivering messages.
Effective notification systems combine traditional LED message boards with expanded capabilities. Integrating emergency messages with RSS and XML platforms will offer information through web sites and web enabled mobile devices. Emergency emails can be sent at the same time along with text messages to reach every affected person in time. This centralized distribution scheme saves valuable time during a crisis, when every second counts.
This entire system has to be detailed and be reported with an accompanying summary of the events and messages transmitted. Having a system that records this information and can generate reports ultimately streamlines compliance and federal record keeping. Overall, robust systems with timely message delivery over multiple media will provide security in times of emergency.
