ELERTS, Corp. Launches K-12 School Division

(Newswire.net — October 9, 2015) Weymouth, MA –ELERTS, a leader in mobile emergency response communication, recently launched a special K-12 division to specifically address the security and safety concerns of public and private schools. The new division will feature added support and resources for schools utilizing its mobile apps to communicate alerts; specifically, the ELERTS Event Alert™ app.

Designed for iPhones, iPads, and Android Smartphones, the app provides teachers and other staff with the opportunity to immediately alert persons on school property, police, and other emergency responders in the event of suspicious persons or threatening activity on school grounds. In addition to notification, Event Alert has the capability to provide visual and logistical information that’s critical for First Responders.

“Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and now Roseburg. Sadly, these will probably not be the last and that’s why we have to give teachers and other school staff the tools to have better situation awareness to help them and their students survive violent threats,” said Ed English, CEO of Weymouth, MA-based ELERTS. “With the Event Alert app, teachers and other staff can alert First Responders with timely and critical details about what is happening.  Alerts may include photos, video, text, GPS maps showing the report location, and other critical information. This dramatically increases the opportunity to respond faster and more intelligently, for a better outcome to a serious threat.”

English added, “Teachers and anyone who has been in a lockdown practice drill or a real lockdown know, in a darkened room, they are not getting critical information needed to decide how to respond. Who, what and where is the threat now? Should they barricade and shelter in place or should they evacuate their class to a safe area?  Without real-time situation awareness, it is difficult to decide what is the best course of action in a crisis.”

The ELERTS app for teachers and staff provides a number of features in addition to notification that benefit First Responders. That includes the capability of initiating a lockdown to prevent suspicious intruders from entering the school or a classroom. The app can directly report to police mobile devices so they can respond faster. The app also has a personal status feature, “Sky Writer”, so users can provide updates on their location and well-being.

“Even more important than notifying First Responders is immediately alerting others in the building and on the campus,” said English. “Knowing that there’s an intruder at the school can help teachers to lead their students to safe areas.”

The ELERTS Event Alert app encourages school staff to be vigilant—whether it’s an intruder from outside the school or a student acting suspiciously. The app also allows a two-way chat between the sender of the report and other users.

Said English, “According to Wikipedia, there were only 35 school shootings over a period of one decade, in the 1980’s. Now in 2015 alone, there have been 20 documented shootings (18 with fatalities) and more than two months remain in the year. Today’s teachers and students go to school in an age where it’s unlikely a week will go by without a school lockdown or shooting incident. And as Sandy Hook in Newtown CT showed, you just don’t know where the next incident will occur. It can happen anywhere. Prior to the massacre, rural Newtown was rated as one of the safest towns in America. Our new division addresses this issue proactively and gives teachers and students a better chance to survive a violent event at school.”

For more information on ELERTS K-12 division, please call 877-256-1971 or visit www.ELERTS.com.