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Emergency information available at sound of beep
Notices of tornado warnings or other emergency situations in Douglas County now can be sent instantly to district schools or facilities with just a few swift keyboard strokes.
By Tom Herman
“Last year we had a law-enforcement warning about an armed felon in the area of some of our Highlands Ranch schools,” said safety manager Brennan Mendus. “The risk-management office decided we should have a way to communicate quickly with our schools when something like that or any other emergency happens, so I was told to develop a plan and communications system.”
Mendus spearheaded the effort to obtain and install an emergency notification system for the Douglas County School District. The system installation was completed in April.
The system is unique to the school district, as far as Mendus knows. He worked with local emergency officials and Arch Paging, which supplies the emergency notification equipment, to develop a countywide system for the district.
Special readout pagers are leased from Arch Paging at $7.95 each per month. The only cost outlay the district has is for the boards the pagers are mounted on and the emergency plan booklets. The maintenance and repair of the pager units are the responsibility of Arch Paging.
If there should be an emergency situation, the school district’s communications office is notified by the sheriff’s office, police departments, Skyview Weather or whomever has the information.
Mendus then determines which schools or departments are affected, and he transmits the information via the pagers to specific schools, buildings, departments or groups by using a special keyboard in his office.
In an instant, all the affected areas are aware of the emergency, he said.
“I can notify Cherry Valley school alone if it is an emergency such as a tornado that affects only them,” Mendus said. “I can also notify groups ... such as the Parker area schools all at once.”
A beeper on the pagers, which are mounted in various places, alerts the persons in charge that they need to read the pager. Operations and maintenance personnel have their pagers on and they can be alerted anywhere.
The emergency notification boards that have been created are complete with emergency response plans, alpha pagers and places for mounting additional emergency information.
The emergency response plan that was developed includes school contacts, media release information, lockdown procedures and fire safety evacuation procedures.
In addition, the plan outlines what to do in case of suspicious persons, unwanted intruders, student weapons, bomb threats, letter/package bombs, school explosions, tornado watches, tornado warnings and lightning exposure.
“In the past, it took longer to notify all schools of a tornado emergency,” Mendus said. “Now with our alpha pagers, we can communicate with every site in about 60 seconds.”
Once a month Mendus sends an e-mail to the schools and other locations and tests the system. The locations that have mounted pagers then e-mail him back to assure him their batteries are charged and the system is functioning.
Fifty-six boards have been mounted in the office areas of every district facility. Charter schools also are included in the system.
There are also 54 pagers on operations and maintenance employees who might need to be notified of emergencies.
As new schools are added to the system, Mendus said he meets with the school’s crisis teams and explains all the emergency systems that are in place, including the alpha pagers.
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