Prioritize student safety with enhanced first aid coverage and cellular communication

Key points:

For any school, keeping students, teachers and staff safe is a top priority. Therefore, many school leaders will be surprised to learn that 52 percent of American schools include areas that not complying Current building code requirements for minimum indoor radio signal strength for police and fire communications.

The implications are clear. In an emergency, when timely and effective communications are vital, first responders may have trouble connecting through their smartphones, portable radios, or other devices. This can negatively impact your ability to respond to an emergency and, in the worst case, put lives at risk.

Ensuring that schools have complete communications coverage is therefore an urgent imperative. Addressing this challenge involves increasing signal coverage for cellular networks, as well as the 700 MHz and 800 MHz land mobile radio (LMR) frequencies traditionally used by emergency services.

School districts will also need to ensure their schools have adequate coverage for FirstNet public safety broadband, which uses the reserved Band 14 communications channel. FirstNet provides a more versatile, data-oriented communications platform compared to existing systems. traditional radio.

Key security considerations

Expanding cell phone, radio and Band 14 coverage in schools is important for several reasons. At the beginning of an emergency incident, for example, poor coverage or signal could make it difficult for a student or staff member to make that first, important call to 9-1-1. In an emergency, even a delay of a few seconds can have significant consequences. In practice, therefore, schools should seek to ensure that coverage extends to basements, closets and other secluded locations; After all, it's impossible to know where the first call will need to be made.

Once emergency services arrive on scene, they need coverage to communicate with each other and coordinate a response. But they may also need to communicate with staff and students, and staff and students may also need to communicate with each other. Therefore, signal dead zones should be kept to a minimum, if not eradicated completely.

Implementing solutions that improve cellular and public safety coverage is a clear win for school districts, helping them meet building code obligations and local authority mandates. More importantly, by investing in such technology, school districts can improve their emergency preparedness, ensuring quick response times, accurate information sharing, and ultimately the safety and well-being of students and staff during critical incidents. .

Communication systems update.

It goes without saying that schools are very busy places and it is important not to disrupt students' studies. That's why it makes a lot of sense to schedule school communication updates to coincide with school holidays, such as summer or winter holidays. However, even then, districts will need options that allow for a rapid turnaround in implementation.

When it comes to increasing coverage for LMR and FirstNet Band 14 communications, an excellent option is an Emergency Communications Enhancement System (ERCES). As the name suggests, this is a technology that increases the coverage of public safety communications within buildings. However, not all solutions are created equal, and districts should look for features like noise-free guarantees for the highest quality connections and true carrier-grade multiband support for FirstNet.

However, an ERCES will only cover emergency services communications. To get reliable public cell coverage, school districts must look elsewhere. Here, a Active DAS Hybrid The solution is the best approach to boost cellular signals indoors. Active DAS hybrids offer a fast and affordable path to ensuring cellular connectivity in buildings by removing lengthy planning, engineering and technical installation from the equation. These systems are powered “from the air”, which allows them to bring energy from the outside grid to the building. By improving coverage as efficiently as possible, Active DAS hybrids provide reliable cellular coverage with fewer signal interruptions for students and staff.

Get financing

For most school districts, money is tight, especially when it comes to funding infrastructure improvements. It is necessary to justify every dollar that is not spent on education. But given the importance of public safety communications in schools, several grants have been awarded to help districts fund these projects.

The Students, Teachers, and Officials to Prevent School Violence Act of 2018, for example, grants authority to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide prizes directly to school districts to improve safety. Last year, the Department of Justice announced nearly $190 million in funding to improve school safety nationwide. many states They are also making funds available for school safety programs, including Connecticut ($15 million) and Ohio ($68 million), while others are pushing for new legislation that would require schools to implement safety technologies.

In a world where everyone has a mobile phone and emergency response communications are more sophisticated than ever, schools can be safer. The key is to ensure that these sophisticated devices can work effectively and at the first moment they are requested. To this end, mobile and radio solutions that increase coverage quickly and cost-effectively will prove invaluable. In any emergency, communications should be the first line of defense. It's time to make sure they will work when needed.