Does Your Emergency Management System Compress Time?

The right emergency response solution should compress time throughout every stage of an incident. Organizational leaders must seek emergency management systems that empower people to initiate safety protocols quickly, communicate the right information to the right people immediately, and help deploy the appropriate resources to the correct location as soon as possible. 

When safety incidents occur on campus, an emergency management system should compress identification time, notification time, and response time. The CENTEGIX Safety Platform® is purpose-built to compress time at every step in emergencies. 

Time to Identify

Rapid identification is critical in any type of emergency. Emergencies escalate fast, so any delay in identifying an emergency and its location delays every downstream step in the emergency response. Research shows that stress impairs decision quality, with the impairment most pronounced under time pressure. When someone is experiencing an emergency, their ability to make decisions is impaired, which can delay alerting for help and responding. Common friction points include:

• Uncertainty about how to get help, and from whom
• Stress
• Lack of access or inability to use a phone
• Inconsistent or poorly communicated emergency procedures

An emergency management system should make it easy for people to get help and immediately initiate safety response protocols. The CENTEGIX Safety Platform’s CrisisAlert™ badge is easy to use and eliminates the need for an individual to decide how to respond to an emergency. When a staff member initiates an alert with their wearable CrisisAlert badge, the on-site responder team receives a notification and immediately initiates the school’s safety protocols. 

The Yakima School District implemented the CENTEGIX Safety Platform in November 2022. The following day, a medical emergency occurred during which a staff member became ill, used their CrisisAlert badge to request help, then lost consciousness. The staff member slid out of their chair onto the floor, becoming invisible to others. But the CrisisAlert badge notification immediately informed a nearby administrator that the staff member needed help, and exactly where she was located. The administrator unlocked the staff member’s office and called  911. First responders transported the staff member to the hospital, where they received treatment for a heart attack. 

According to Yakima School District Deputy Superintendent Stacey Locke, “Because the badge was on [the staff member’s] person, and she remembered to click it three times, she got that emergency help, and we were able to save her life.” The CENTEGIX Safety Platform’s wearable device immediately starts the emergency response clock. Even when a staff member cannot reliably communicate or self-advocate during a medical incident, they can automatically initiate emergency response protocols with their CrisisAlert badge, thereby reducing the time it takes for responders to arrive. 

Simple, effective notification enabled a rapid response, preventing the worst outcome. According to Locke, the Safety Platform’s precise locating capabilities are key to rapid emergency response. “The importance of being able to know exactly where something was occurring” empowered responders to “provide that support.” The clarity provided by the CENTEGIX® emergency management system made it clear who should respond and where they needed to go, reducing time spent searching for the incident location and coordinating a response. 

Time to Notify

A rapid emergency response depends upon accurate, efficient notifications. To provide needed intervention and support, responders need to know the context of an alert. An emergency management system should immediately inform responders of the following:

• What type of emergency is unfolding
• The emergency’s precise location
• Who needs to respond

This information empowers responders to respond rapidly. By contrast, traditional notification processes include multiple potential failure points:

• Manual calling trees take time 
• Unclear location descriptions delay notification
• Poorly defined lists of notification recipients can over- or under-notify responders 
• A lack of location information can delay confirmation of critical details 

The CENTEGIX Safety Platform emergency management system eliminates the “telephone game” that occurs when safety protocols rely on these traditional notification practices. The Safety Platform delivers actionable notifications in seconds. When an individual requests help using their CrisisAlert badge, their precise location is visible on the Platform’s digital incident map. This map is automatically sent to both on-site and external responders, who are empowered to respond directly to the alert location to provide support. Safety Platform’s reliable, automated alert distribution provides location clarity and reduces the delays associated with follow-up questions and misrouting. 

Time to Respond

To be effective, an emergency notification must enable a quick, well-informed response. It is not enough for someone to show up at the location of an emergency. To compress time, the right responders need to show up at the right location with the right resources. 

A rapid response requires:

• Direct navigation to an incident
• Mobilization of the appropriate resources
• Shared situational awareness for coordinated action

The CENTEGIX Safety Platform’s critical incident map provides instant visibility into a building or campus. The map includes locations of safety assets, such as AEDs, first-aid kits, overdose-reversal kits, fire extinguishers, and other equipment that can be deployed in an emergency. The maps also show infrastructure details that assist responders in their work, including evacuation routes, exits, access controls, and more. 

The Safety Platform’s notifications enable organizations to deploy the appropriate responders, including medical, security, or administrative personnel, and create a shared situational awareness. As a result, organizational leaders are empowered to execute a coordinated response. 

The Safety Platform compresses response time by preventing the following:

• Deployment of responders to the wrong location
• Lengthy searches of buildings or rooms
• Fragmented response efforts
• Slow updates as the situation changes
• Time spent looking for safety assets

Before implementing the Safety Platform, the Yakima School District sought ways to compress time. According to Locke, “What was missing was the ability to locate the incident at a moment’s notice.” With the CENTEGIX emergency management platform, Yakima School District personnel were able to pinpoint emergency locations and respond in moments.

The CENTEGIX Emergency Management Platform Compresses Time

The actionable location intelligence supplied by the CENTEGIX Safety Platform provides valuable, instant context for efficient and effective emergency response. 

For Locke, the Safety Platform provided the notifications, location information, and context needed to compress time in emergencies. During the 2023 medical emergency at Yakima School District, the Safety Platform did exactly that. When the emergency occurred:

1. The impacted staff member initiated an alert on their CrisisAlert badge.
2. An administrator immediately received the alert and the precise location.
3. The administrator responded quickly to the correct location.
4. The administrator provided immediate aid and called 911.
5. Emergency responders quickly arrived and provided medical care.
6. Responders transported the impacted staff member to the hospital.

The clarity of notification and location information empowered the administrator to respond quickly and effectively. At every step along the way, the Safety Platform compressed time, resulting in a rapid response that saved the impacted staff member’s life. 

According to Locke, “[The CENTEGIX Safety Platform] has definitely helped fill a lot of the gaps we were feeling in our security.” 

The best emergency management systems compress time from end to end. The CENTEGIX Safety Platform rapidly identifies incidents and notifies responders. This precise information empowers responders to provide effective support and intervention. When safety incidents occur, time saves lives, and every moment is critical.

To learn more about how the CENTEGIX Safety Platform compresses time in emergencies, schedule a demo today.