In an effort to bolster campus safety and improve the immediacy of emergency response, Broward County Public Schools is set to equip its educators and staff with a new crisis alert system across the district. The CrisisAlert™ badge, demonstrated at Plantation Middle School, is designed to hasten the alert process when emergencies—from medical incidents to active shooter situations—arise on school grounds.
One click of the badge's button sends out a detailed notification including the location and user's name directly to 911 and first responders, expediting their dispatch and potentially saving lives, and in an interview with WSVN, BCPS Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn emphasized the critical importance of these precious seconds during an emergency, saying, "Improving the response times of school staff and/or first responders can be the difference between life and death."
For two members of the school board, Lori Alhadeff and Debra Hixon—both of whom were personally affected by the tragedy of the Parkland shooting—the implementation of such technology represents a significant step forward in school safety measures. "It is an added level of security that shares accurate, precise and immediate information to first responders when seconds count and in the most crucial of emergencies, seconds can make all the difference," Hixon told WSVN, reflecting on the tool's potential impact.
The badges, which also trigger strobe lights and mass alerts in lockdown situations, proved effective during a September school shooting in Georgia, where a teacher's quick thinking in pressing the button led to a timely response that, according to Dr. Hepburn in an interview with WFLA News, "saved six to eight people's lives that were shot because of that quick response time." From the start of the 2025/26 school year, each Broward County campus staff member will be armed with this potentially life-saving gadget.
Dr. Hepburn further clarified the badge's operation for WFLA News, specifying that three presses signal a medical emergency, while eight or more indicate an active shooter, prompting lockdown procedures. He enthused on the system's capacity, "When seconds matter, every employee is equipped to get crucial information in the hands of those who can help."
