Rapid Responder Crisis Management System to Enhance Student Safety in more than 1,000 Schools Nationwide

Prepared Response, Inc. Recently Awarded $7 Million for Student Safety

SEATTLE, WA -- April 24, 2007 -- Prepared Response, Inc. (PRI), a leading developer of crisis management planning and response systems, announced today that it has been awarded $7 million to install the company’s Rapid Responder® system in 1,000 schools in South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and Washington state. The deployments are being funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Emergency Response and Crisis Management (ERCM) grant program and other government funding sources. Rapid Responder currently protects more than 8,400 facilities across the U.S., including 1,650 schools and educational facilities.

“PRI’s Rapid Responder system was selected based on the company’s extensive experience in school safety, the product’s ease of use, and the ability to easily update facility information via the Web,” said Jim Finnell, president and CEO of Prepared Response, Inc. “Another key factor was that Rapid Responder is the only crisis management system ‘Certified’ by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the SAFETY Act. The certification process validates Rapid Responder as an effective, reliable, and safe anti-terrorism technology and places Rapid Responder on the DHS Approved Product List for Homeland Security.”  

The Rapid Responder system aggregates over 300 data points about the school, including floor plans, photos, evacuation routes, hazardous materials, etc., places it in a central, highly-secure database, and makes it available to schools, police, fire, and other agencies via the Web or laptop computers. With instant access to a shared database of critical facility information, school safety teams, police, and fire can respond faster, in a more coordinated manner, and with enhanced situational awareness.

According to school officials, one of the major advantages of the Rapid Responder system is the company’s collaborative approach to emergency planning. PRI’s highly experienced professional services team facilitates meetings between school officials and first responders, including police, sheriff, fire, and others, that fosters dialog and builds relationships. During these pre-planning meetings, the various agencies discuss each other’s needs and how they can collaborate and coordinate their response during a wide variety of emergency situations, from shootings and lockdowns to fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hazmat spills.