FirstNet’s Silent Alarm Connects Schools, First Responders

The 304 school shootings last year marked a record high for K-12 schools since 1966. This year, as schools ready for the return of students this fall, there have already been more than 180 shootings as school administrators continue to look for ways to mitigate any incident that might occur.

Some are already ordering a new tool from FirstNet, a wearable, silent panic button alarm system that, preloaded with key data, notifies the local PSAP and other personnel of an incident via text message or phone call. The alarm system was officially announced Aug. 1.

The alarm button can be in an app or on a lanyard worn by a teacher or other school personnel — even a bus driver — who would press the button to notify first responders of an incident, whether it be a shooting, fire or something else. The system can be programmed to suit the needs of the school or district so that when a teacher, for example, presses the button one, two or three times, the 911 operator receives the appropriate message and knows what public safety responders are needed and where.

“It’s not all about just the wearable,” said Matt Walsh, head of product for FirstNet at AT&T. “Behind it is an entire platform that is about school safety management, so while the most critical alerts go through wearables, there’s a whole system for triaging of those emergencies and for reunification.”

In other words, pressing the alarm button notifies the appropriate first responders via the PSAP, and that notification also contains messaging about the specifics of the incident and where triaging and reunification — of teachers and students and/or students and family — will take place.

“The school really gets to determine what they want the canned messages to be,” Walsh said. “For example, that button could be three pushes tells the 911 dispatcher there’s a fire but then also provides the location and gives access to the responders to a map of the school and where the alert was initiated, and where they should go. We recognize that each school district will want to implement it differently.”

The alarm system can be used for less critical situations as well, even those where first responders aren’t required to come, such as if a school administrator wants to make other personnel aware of new graffiti.

“We gave the schools the flexibility to determine what the messages are, what happens when they go out and what messages go to 911 versus an administrator,” Walsh said.