Gwinnett County (Georgia) school district will equip all teachers and staff with security devices

 All teachers and staff in the Gwinnett Count (Georgia) school district will soon be able to get medical or emergency help through a wearable device.

WXIA-TV reports that the system is being installed in all 142 district schools.

Through a wearable badge, employees are able to click a button to alert staff and/or authorities if there is a medical emergency or campus threat. 

Gwinnett County will equip over 22,000 employees with the wearable devices. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that the Centegix CrisisAlert system cost $7 million to put into place; state school safety grants are covering the expense. 

The system is in about 60% of Georgia public school districts.

The system has two types of alerts that are triggered based on the number of times a user pushes a button. General alerts for medical help, intervention with a student or other situations send a signal to the central office along with computers and smartphones connected to the system.

Emergency alerts trigger flashing lights and a lockdown message that plays throughout the campus.

School district Police Chief Tony Lockard said the new system streamlines the lockdown process. Before, a teacher noticing a threat would have to call the office, which would initiate a lockdown and call police, he said. Now any staff member can start a lockdown immediately.