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.
