Insights From a Former First Responder: Improving Clarity and Response Times in School Safety Emergencies

When an emergency impacts a K-12 school, whether it’s a medical incident or a campus-wide threat, what happens in the first moments can be critical to the outcome. Officers, medics, and firefighters are ready to help, but they need detailed, accurate information about what is happening and where help is needed.

As a former dispatcher, I know what it’s like trying to gather key information quickly during a high-stress situation. A caller might struggle to describe their exact location, may not know some of the information that is needed, or may not have a strong cell phone signal. These challenges can leave responders with gaps in information as they arrive on scene.

School districts and their public safety partners can address some of these challenges before an emergency occurs by determining what information responders will need, how it will be communicated, and how those processes will be tested.

Partnering with First Responders on Effective School Safety Planning: 3 Key Considerations

As districts evaluate their emergency response protocols with public safety partners, three areas deserve particular attention: speed, clarity, and coordination.

1. Speed

Reducing the time between the start of an incident and the moment the emergency dispatch center is notified is critical. When a caller dials 911, dispatchers must quickly gather information about what happened, where help is needed, and what resources may be required.

Districts and public safety partners should examine the entire notification process, not simply the initial alert. Who receives the notification? Does it reach 911 directly or pass through another system or individual first? What information is transmitted automatically, and what information must still be gathered verbally? Testing those pathways during drills can help identify potential delays.

Emergency callers may be frightened, injured, unsure of what information to provide, or unable to access a phone at all. Poor cell service or difficulty describing an exact location can create additional challenges. The average duration between when a call is received by 911 and responders are dispatched to the scene is between 45 and 60 seconds.

Technology can provide additional ways for school personnel to request assistance and share information. Wearable panic buttons, for example, can allow staff to initiate an alert without first locating a phone. Districts should work with local public safety partners to understand how those alerts reach dispatchers and what information accompanies them.

2. Clarity

Quickly triggering an alert is only one part of an effective emergency response. Responders also need accurate information about what is happening and where it is happening.

Knowing exactly where an incident is occurring, down to the floor and room number, can provide responders with more useful information than a general GPS location for the school. According to CENTEGIX’s 2026 Safety Trends Report, which analyzed more than 346,000 panic button alerts, 58% occurred outside classrooms. Responders may need to locate someone in a hallway, on a playground, in a parking lot, or elsewhere on campus.

Schools and public safety partners should review the location information available to responders and how it will be accessed during an emergency. Campus mapping can also provide information about the location of safety assets, such as AEDs and fire extinguishers.

Video can provide another source of situational awareness. Through integrations with emergency response systems, live streams from cameras near an emergency may be made available to authorized responders, providing additional information about conditions on scene. Schools and public safety partners should determine in advance how that access will work during an emergency.

3. Coordination

Relationships and trust should be established before a crisis occurs, from school personnel on site to dispatchers at the console and responding units in the field. That coordination includes school personnel, dispatchers, law enforcement, fire and EMS, and others who may be involved in the response.

Schools should partner with local first responders to conduct joint training exercises, share campus maps and operational plans, and establish communication pathways with dispatch centers. These exercises also provide an opportunity to test notification processes and confirm that information responders may need is accurate and accessible.

Emergency response plans and protocols should be reviewed regularly with public safety partners, particularly as buildings, technology, personnel, or procedures change. Ongoing coordination can help ensure schools and responding agencies understand how they will work together during incidents ranging from everyday medical emergencies to larger campus-wide threats.

Ultimately, improving emergency response requires schools and public safety partners to determine what information responders will need, how it will reach them, and how those processes will work during an actual incident. Building those relationships and testing plans before an emergency can help schools and responders identify and address potential gaps.

This article was contributed by Jason Klink, CENTEGIX Lead Public Safety Integrations Specialist and a former first responder with more than 30 years of experience in public safety. His background includes serving as a public safety dispatcher and fire chief.

Note: The views expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, School Security Leadership.