Prepared Response in place
District 271 schools now more prepared to receive emergency services


November 2, 2006
by Linda Ball
Coeur d'Alene Press

COEUR d'ALENE - In September 2003, a 16-year-old student was shot by police at Lewis-Clark High School in Spokane after firing a handgun in a classroom.

Thanks to software called Rapid Responder, 2,000 students were safely evacuated.

Now, the same software - created by a Seattle company called Prepared Response - has been implemented in all of the Coeur d’Alene School District's buildings.

The program allows emergency personnel to respond quickly and safely to a variety of scenarios by having digitized floor plans of all the schools as well as emergency contact information.

Tom Brubaker, vice president of sales for Prepared Response, said they start with the basics, such as preparing for heavy weather.

"Different school districts have different threats," Brubaker said. "Earthquake, hurricane - first responders will help set up triage for community safety."

Janet Feiler, spokeswoman for the Coeur d'Alene School District, said three people per school, a total of 65, have been trained on Rapid Responder.

Feiler said the principal, custodian and secretaries at each building have been trained, and one of those individuals in each school is responsible for keeping the information updated.

The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, Northern Lakes Fire District, Kootenai Fire and Rescue, Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Idaho State Patrol, Kootenai County Sheriffs Department and school resource officers have been trained on the software, Feiler said.

Training is geared toward each district's content with various scenarios explored. It is even possible for individual police officers to have a USB drive they can carry in their pocket, and plug into any computer to bring up a school's floor plan or other information on the system.

The Coeur d'Alene School District paid for Rapid Responder with a $248,000 Emergency Response and Crisis Management grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. Only 97 grants were awarded from 387 applicants. Feiler said there will be no additional costs to the district unless it adds another school.