Free “Safety Plan Wizard” Released

New Free “Safety Plan Wizard” Now Available to All Illinois K-12 Schools

Powered by the NaviGate Prepared(R) School Safety System, Wizard Assists With Safety Plan Development

NEW PHILADELPHIA, OH – Dec. 02, 2015 – In an effort to assist school administrators with the enhancement of current safety plans or the development of new safety plans, the NaviGate Prepared® school safety emergency response system announces the launch of a free ‘Safety Plan Wizard,’ available to any K-12 school in Illinois.

The wizard features the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) recommended school safety plan template and allows for easy customization and implementation of plans to meet individual school needs.

“The Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) has been a sponsor of the NaviGate Prepared school safety system since 2014, helping to introduce the technology to schools throughout Illinois as an aid to improve crisis preparedness and emergency response,” said Roger Eddy, Executive Director, IASB. “Illinois school administrators take the safety of our students very seriously and a free resource designed specifically to help enhance current building safety plans or devise plans if they don’t exist is sure to aid with crisis training and preparation while helping to standardize school safety plans throughout our state.”

The Safety Plan Wizard features a simple step-by-step questionnaire so administrators can easily create plans, save them as PDFs, and download, print, and share them with first responders and other key stakeholders. Administrators can also:

1. Start, stop, and save information anytime

2. View helpful hints to answer questions

3. Seamlessly copy information from one building safety plan to another

4. Track plan development progress for each building

5. Track district-wide plans year-to-year

“Our organization is committed to school safety and we don’t want to see any school, in any state, lacking in the area of safety plans so we set out to develop a tool that any school could use as a guideline for improving their building safety plans — at absolutely no cost and from a credible and reliable source [FEMA],” said Jim Hummel, President of Lauren Innovations/NaviGate Prepared. “The wizard is designed so that schools can take the information they input and customize it per their specific needs to ensure they have current, up-to-date safety plans that they can actively use.”

Michele Gay, mother of 7-year-old Sandy Hook victim, Josephine, past teacher and co-founder of Safe and Sound: A Sandy Hook Initiative, travels the nation speaking to groups and organizations and offering resources and recommendations on processes, protocols, technologies, and more that can make all the difference when faced with a crisis situation.

She says: “Planning and preparing for crisis may be the single most important action schools can take to protect the school community. With emergency plans in place, the school community is better prepared to recognize, prevent, mitigate, and even recover from a school-based crisis.”

For schools that currently use the cloud-based NaviGate Prepared system, in addition to comprehensive safety plans, administrators can also securely organize additional imperative school data and information — and allow first responders 24/7 ‘eyes on’ access to it to improve crisis training and aid with emergency response.

The system offers real-time access to emergency call lists, safety plans, virtual binders, building maps and floor plans, 360-degree images, live video feeds, drill logs, and more. Staff can also access the award-winning NaviGate Flipcharts mobile app, which allows instant access, with or without an Internet connection, to emergency and crisis flipcharts.

NaviGate Prepared is SAFETY Act Designated as an anti-terrorism-level technology by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It has been implemented in hundreds of school districts throughout the nation, including several in Illinois, such as Grayslake Community High School District 127 (Lake County ROE), Fisher Community Unit School District 1 (Champaign-Ford County ROE 9), Cuba Community Unit School District 3 (Fulton County ROE 22), Robinson Community Unit School District 2 (ROE 12), Quincy Public School District 172 (ROE 1) and more.

To obtain the Safety Plan Wizard, administrators can visit: safetyplan.navigateprepared.com. More information on NaviGate Prepared can be found at: www.navigateprepared.com.

About NaviGate Prepared®

NaviGate Prepared® is a proven school safety emergency response system designed to assist and prepare school officials and first responders for crisis situations. The secure, cloud-based platform offers 911 dispatch centers and emergency personnel real-time Internet access to a school’s facility and safety information before, during, and after a crisis. Developed by Ohio-based Lauren Innovations, NaviGate Prepared is SAFETY Act Designated as an anti-terrorism-level technology by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For more information, visit www.NaviGatePrepared.com, www.LaurenInnovations.com, or call 866-861-7400.

About Safe and Sound Schools

Safe and Sound Schools is a non-profit organization founded by Sandy Hook parents who lost their children during the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. Winner of the 2015 SBANE New England Innovation Award for nonprofits, Safe and Sound Schools is dedicated to empowering communities to improve school safety through discussion, collaboration, planning, and sharing of information, tools, and resources. To get involved, visit safeandsoundschools.org.

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Download the .pdf NaviGate Safety Plan Wizard