During the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., teachers activated personal emergency response system (PERS) panic buttons to alert law enforcement, a move credited with potentially helping save lives. The system, introduced just a week earlier, enabled officers to respond quickly and bring the situation under control, according to authorities.
The panic buttons, manufactured by the Atlanta-based company Centegix, enabled authorities to potentially track the exact location of those who pressed them through maps displayed on officers’ mobile devices. A 14-year-old student, now facing four counts of murder, has been charged in the shooting and will be tried as an adult. Nine other people were injured and taken to hospitals. They are expected to make full recoveries.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation website, a school resource officer apprehended the suspect within six minutes of the first report of the shooting.
The panic buttons, which resemble ID cards and are typically worn on lanyards, use private networks within schools rather than relying on cell signals, making them accessible and easy to use for staff members.
“Teachers wear badges that have panic alert buttons and are to able press the button to alert law enforcement of an incident,” according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “This system has been active for about a week before the tragedy at Apalachee High School. Several teachers pressed the alert buttons.”
A national survey conducted by Centegix found that while 77 percent of K-12 educators and administrators believe that school safety significantly impacts staff retention and recruitment, only 33 percent feel that their school or district highly prioritizes staff safety.
In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Centegix CEO Brent Cobb explained that the company developed its CrisisAlert technology after the 2018 Parkland high school shooting in Florida, aiming to provide teachers and administrators with a quick and discreet method to request assistance.
“Time equals lives,” he told CNN. “And you need everyone to know immediately” that a crisis is taking place.
When a lockdown is initiated, the CrisisAlert system triggers several automated actions: pre-recorded messages play over the intercom to notify the entire campus, while safety personnel, such as school resource officers, are informed of the incident's location.
According to Cobb, in certain school districts, the system is also linked with local law enforcement, allowing it to automatically contact 911 and relay the exact location of the emergency to officers. This was the case in Barrow County.
Cobb emphasized that the primary goal is to reduce police response times, an issue that gained significant attention after the 77-minute delay in responding to the shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
