As part of the 2015 School Safety Act (Act 950), students, faculty, and staff member in Arkansas' 1,000 public schools will be provided with the Rave Panic Button in order to quickly respond to emergency situations.

Officials are saying this will be the most comprehensive public school emergency system in the nation, but local school districts will not be required to employ the system, according to Reuters.

"It is truly regrettable that we live in a time when schools and other locations have to worry about and prepare for various crisis situations, particularly active shooters, where the number of incidents have increased year over year," said Representative Baltz, lead sponsor of Act 950.

"This powerful solution, which we hope to never have to use for an active shooter, will allow our response teams to save precious minutes, which translates to lives. Rave Panic Button enables us to better protect our most precious assets – our students and teachers."

The panic buttons are designed to enable members of the school to alert authorities to emergency situations in situations where time is of the essence and quick action is needed.

The Rave Panic Button works like so, according to a statement from the company:

Through a simple five button interface, faculty and staff activate the app by selecting the type of emergency – active shooter, police, fire, EMS or other – which immediately connects to 9-1-1 while simultaneously notifying selected on-site personnel of the location and nature of the emergency. 9-1-1 and first responders automatically receive critical data such as the caller's exact location, floor plans, emergency exit locations, emergency contacts and key procedures and can deliver critical emergency notifications to on-site contacts.

As many schools are looking to address growing safety concerns with the increase of gun violence as of late, individuals throughout Arkansas are expressing their support for such an innovative and easily-implemented way to stay safe.

Read more about Rave Panic Buttons here and comment with your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

08/12/2015