Why alert types?

What do you do when faced with an emergency situation to spread the word immediately without causing a panic? DIR-S is used almost every day in different situations our clients find themselves in.

When users are familiar with DIR-S, and have taken the time to become proficient with it, reaction times are cut down to mere minutes. As can be seen in the case study below, this school was able to react to the threat posed to them in a matter of minutes, when managing this same type of situation might have taken well over an hour.
(Names and Locations Changed for Privacy)
​LOCKOUT alert initiated at 8:32 a.m. by Responder Chris Trager.
8:33 a.m. (District Administrator): This is not a drill; I will keep you all informed here on DIR-S as I am able.
8:35 a.m. (Responder): Report of a person in the student parking lot waving a weapon out the window. Vehicle located unoccupied in the North student parking lot with an airsoft gun inside. School remains in lockout while we investigate.
8:45 a.m. Alert ESCALATED to LOCKDOWN by Responder Chris Trager.
8:46 a.m. (Responder) For safety reasons we escalated to a lockdown. There were five students potentially involved. Working on getting them all contained.
8:54 a.m. (Responder): Lifting the LOCKDOWN. All students have been identified and contained. No weapons are outstanding.
Knowing what to do given the specific alert type allowed teachers, administrators, and responders to quickly react to the situation. Because they had drilled regularly and were familiar with the procedures pertaining to the different alert types, even when the alert was escalated during the situation, everyone knew exactly what to do. They were able to avoid panic and get the entire situation taken care of in a matter of roughly 30 minutes without anyone being harmed or panicking.

Get Safe, Stay Safe.