New app acts as ‘mobile panic button’ for emergencies at Okaloosa County schools. How it works:

May 16, 2022 | nwfdailynews - Sierra Rains

NICEVILLE — A new tool is giving faculty and school resource officers at Okaloosa County schools the ability to report active assailants, medical emergencies, and more with the click of a button.

Okaloosa County School District Superintendent Marcus Chambers and Sheriff Eric Aden showcased the SaferWatch app during a press conference Wednesday at the Sheriff Larry Gilbert Emergency Operations Center in Niceville.

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The app allows users to press a mobile panic button that automatically notifies 911 centers, emergency responders and school administrators of any significant safety hazard on campus. It also allows for real-time updates as the situation progresses.

“For a School District, what many might say is our number one priority is educating our students, but all of that pales in comparison if we can’t keep our students safe,” Chambers said. “So though we want to prepare our students for college, the military or the workforce, the safety of our students is first and foremost.”

Okaloosa County was one of the numerous school districts across the state to launch the app at the start of the 2021-2022 school year in accordance with a new law mandating that all Florida public schools, including charters, implement a mobile panic alert system.

Alyssa’s Law was developed in honor of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff and the 16 other people who were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018.

The legislation seeks to address key issues that occurred during the shooting and add another layer of safety to schools. Officers who responded faced issues such as overloaded dispatch centers and difficulties pinpointing a location inside the building.

“The biggest deficiency was the fact that the 911 system was overloaded with phone calls,” Aden said. “You have thousands of calls coming in from concerned parents, other agencies, and there’s only so many dispatchers. So the dispatch was overloaded, the radio system was overloaded.”

The information from SaferWatch is linked directly to the Okaloosa County 911 Communications Center, which helps to quickly coordinate responses between agencies.

“All of the entities are receiving that information at the same time, so we’re coordinating our response efforts at the same time, which mitigates any delay in the response,” Okaloosa County School Safety Specialist Danny Dean said.

Dean demonstrated the app’s capabilities by having Crestview High School’s assistant principal call in a SaferWatch alert to the communications center Wednesday.

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The app immediately provided dispatchers with corresponding GPS coordinates, which Dean said can pinpoint the exact location of the incident down to the building where the person is standing. It only tracks location when the panic button is pressed.

Users maintain contact with dispatchers through the app as the situation progresses and can share live videos and images. They can also communicate over text if they are in a situation where they need to remain quiet or hide.

“If someone’s in a situation like some of those teachers were at Marjory Stoneman and they might have been in a classroom where they were fearful of making a phone call, they can make text messages,” Aden said. “We didn’t have that capability before.”

The SaferWatch app also can be used during other emergencies such as a medical issue or fire. Since its launch in Okaloosa County, the app has been used to help a student having a medical emergency and a faculty member who fell and injured his head.

“Thank God we have not had any critical incident such as anything like Marjory Stoneman, and God willing we will never,” Aden said. “But this would certainly enhance capabilities if, God forbid, that did happen.”