CHICAGO — The Robinson (Texas) Independent School District (ISD), located just southeast of Waco, is adopting the CommandScope incident pre-plan program to assist first responders in saving lives and property in cases of emergencies. CommandScope, developed by Chicago-based RealView, LLC, is a pre-plan technology that provides first responders with critical knowledge of buildings, the property and the occupants inside.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of students and staff in our school district,” says David Wrzesinski, director of special programs and safety for the district. “When we activate technologies like CommandScope, it makes concentrating on developing character and curriculum that much easier. We feel it is our duty to prepare for emergencies the best we can so that we and our local first responders can save lives and mitigate property damage.”
Robinson ISD serves more than 2,300 students that come not only from Robinson, but also from nearby Golinda, Levi, Rosenthal, Asa, Downsville and Mooreville. The students attend classes across five schools each with its own facility: primary (pre-K-1st grade), elementary (2nd-3rd), intermediate (4th-6th in a facility newly opened last fall), junior high (7th-8th), and high school (9th-12th).
Robinson has a two-station volunteer fire department and a 36-person police force that patrols the approximately 35-square-mile city. With CommandScope, they will get instant access en route and on site to property plans, floor plans, hazardous material details, utility shut-off locations, geographical maps, fire hydrants locations, and other critical building and infrastructure information. All of the ISD facilities’ detailed information can now be easily updated and then accessed in the event of an incident, be it fire, active shooter, hazardous materials, or even natural disaster.
CommandScope’s shareability between local first responders and mutual aid fire departments eliminates guesswork even for those first responders who have never set foot inside a pre-planned school. That means mutual aid firefighters from Waco departments will be as knowledgeable about the Robinson schools as the locals.
“It is imperative for first responders to have instant access to vital facility information, especially where our communities’ most vulnerable citizens are concerned,” said Kevin Oldenburg, account executive at RealView. “CommandScope provides user-friendly, critical technology that educates responders from every direction and arms them with the knowledge they require to save both lives and property.”
About CommandScope
The CommandScope pre-plan program provides critical building details in a format that is both easy to use and shareable. This provides first responders with a working knowledge of each building, its occupants, and its hazards. CommandScope is accessed on-site at building security stations via touch screens and/or on first responders’ portable tablets. And because the information is shared via the internet, even the latest building updates can be accessed by first responders at the touch of a finger.