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VillageSafety

Safety is a Village affair

Mission Statement

Creation of safer live, work, and play environments through enhanced communication and collaboration between all inhabitants. Avoidance of safety incidents when possible. Facilitating rapid response and command during those critical first few minutes when incidents happen.

Safety is a Village affair!!


Our App provides a safety program to support our mission.

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The Villages

Site Features

Managing COVID

COVID-19 cell

Understanding the mechanism of the spread of COVID-19 and best practices for managing the pandemic has been a moving target with mixed and frequently changing information from the CDC and other agencies charged with safeguarding the health of the country. At VillageSafety we track the current state of research and recommendations and make the publications and sources available within the app.

White nurse inoculating a Black male

Flexibility in the scheduling of classes and workplaces is one of the keys to reopening schools and businesses in the COVID environment, and there is a possibility that the pandemic may have permanent effects on how education and business is conducted.

The physical isolation of individuals and families that COVID has mandated has created a need for more fluid digital communications to conduct the business of life and to maintain a sense of community. People are social beings, and isolation can have both emotional and mental health implications. The pandemic has brought economic stress to many families, further complicating the mental health picture.

While schools and businesses cannot solve all of these problems, they will be manifested in numerous ways that will impact the educational mission. And schools will have to deal with that. The VillageSafety apps provide a suite of tools to support this effort and to build community involvement.

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Incident Alert

Incident Alert red button

10 Second Call for Help

The Incident Alert Function allows users to request immediate assistance in less than ten seconds from their phone or tablet, sending a pre-scripted message identifying the type of incident and the user's location.

Action Changes Things

A quick and decisive response to an incident with the right responders can make all the difference in the outcome.

Action Changes Things

On the Front Lines

Organizations need systems that provide immediate and appropriate assistance when things go wrong.

Our Incident Alert Function allows users to identify their emergency, send a request for immediate response, and transmit their location in less than 10 seconds.

Phone with select incident screen
VillageSafety App Alert Screen

Follow-up Messages

can be sent by the user to provide more detail to first responders, and the responders can call or text back.

African American Man Texting

Anonymous Hotline

Red Telephone

Empower all participants to play a role in facility safety. The Anonymous Hotline allows users to report problems without worrying about repercussions.

How it works:

  1. User enters text message describing the safety issue. If desired they can attach photos or videos.

    Wave image
  2. The text message is immediately transmitted to the designated manager for Action.

    Unified Communications
  3. A record is created in the Anonymous Hotline Log for future reference and for noting the follow up steps taken and resolution of the issue.

    Computer window with circular graph and analysis

Incident Management Dashboard

Incident Command Center

In an emergency, one of the most difficult issues is the effective coordination of the efforts of first responders and security staff, and clear direction to occupants.

Policeman in patrol car

The VillageSafety apps provide a shared platform, accessible (at appropriate levels) to first responders, security, management, staff, and occupants. It allows continuous interactive communications among all responders and access to campus maps, Standard Operating Protocols (customized by incident type), and the ability for Incident Command to send large group text messages to occupants giving direction or status updates.

Incident dispatch

The dashboard interface is intuitive, eliminating the need to train first responders in the use of the system.

Dispatchers can selectively send out links to the dashboard to the first responders.

VillageSafety App Incident Management screen

The VillageSafety Apps create a record of communications over the course of an incident, which is useful for post-incident analysis and can reduce an organization's legal liability.

Post-It note with 'Follow-up' text

Threat Assessment

Threat Assessment pyramid

A good Threat Assessment program can help avoid campus violence

by identifying students that are dealing with psycho/emotional issues and getting them connected with the appropriate intervention before bad things happen.

Troubled teenager

Safe schools are up to us.

No one would argue that an active Threat Assessment program is better than dealing with the consequences of school violence, but that requires time and resources.

Teenager and counselor

The VillageSafety app simplifies the Threat Assessment process by providing:

  • A platform for managing the team
  • A repository of forms (either a templated set of forms from our library or forms provided by your district)
  • Procedures
  • Resources
  • A communication platform that supports timely and effective response when issues arise
Multi-ethnic hands holding wrists

Broadcast Messaging

The Broadcast Messaging System

is used to send safety incident related messages to large groups within a facility for incident management and for distruibution of useful information to occupants.

Large Group Cloud Texting

When incidents happen, efficient large group communications systems are essential.

Red police light

VillageSafety Broadcast Messaging allows Administrators to send immediate incident alerts and ongoing instructions to manage situations.

Index finger on tablet sending broadcast message

Emergency Communications are recorded to create a detailed chronology of events.

Safety Plan

Mobile Document Access

Folders and Documents

The Safety Document Access System allows users to open docs from our app specific to their school including:

  • Safety Plan
  • Emergency Procedures
  • Emergency Contact List
  • Facility Map
Teacher carrying lots of documents image

Facility occupants shouldn't have to memorize emergency procedure manuals and they can't carry a copy in their pockets ... or can they?

Documents are hyperlinked

for quick access to critical information:

Finger clicking a hyperlink

Dynamic Talk-Around

VillageSafety App Dynamic Talk-Around iPhone screen

Group Talk-Around Platform

The App provides a secure multi-media group talk-around platform for discreet communications among security and management staff, as well as other groups with common interests.


Transmit Media

Users can transmit text messages, voice messages, photos and video. Security related Messaging is tracked and becomes a part of the Daily Security Report,and can be sorted and filtered as a part of regular data analytics.

VillageSafety App Dynamic Talk-Around iPhone screen

Class | Group Messaging

Group Messaging for Classes and Groups

The flexibility of the VillageSafety Group Messaging feature allows you to create custom groups based upon your school's needs.

Multiple group icons in a circle

You can create custom groups for after-school groups, a group for the band, sports teams, theatrical groups, field trips, fraternities, sororities, etc.

Group Messaging can be set up in a matter of minutes by teachers or administrative staff.

Group's can be one-way — group-leader to group, or two-way by granting members privileges to message groups.

Young men and women texting on mobile devices

Class schedules and locations, particularly remote learning, are much more fluid than ever before.

At-Home Learning icon
Female teacher in a Zoom remote classroom

Teachers need simple ways to communicate schedule changes and provide direction to students.

Female teenager in a text bubble holding a cup of coffee while texting
Animated hand holding smartphone

The VillageSafety Group Messaging feature also supports Direct Messaging.

Male teacher's hands texting
Female teenager in a text bubble holding a cup of coffee while texting

Now, more than ever, communication is more challenging and necessary. Students and their families are direct beneficiaries of this improved communication system.

Female teenager in a text bubble holding a cup of coffee while texting

Good communications keeps your village connected

…that's peace of mind.

People holding hands and multi-colored houses

Campus Mapping

Your School's Campus Map and Building Floor Plans

are assembled into an interactive mapping system allowing users to easily find any room on campus.

School campus aerial view

The Campus Map provides critical information to first responders in an emergency.

Campus map schematic

The map is also useful for:

New students in finding classrooms

— AND —

Parents on back to school night

Campus visitors map

… and multiple other routine uses

Let's call the roll

Roll Call

Male teacher Zoom session
… it took 25 minutes to take a Roll Call for a remote learning class! Anonymous teacher
That may not be everyone's experience … but it underscores the technical difficulties of once routine exercises in the current teaching environment.
Clipboard with checkboxes and red stick figure
The VillageSafety Roll Call function was designed with schools in mind. It gives schools the ability to quickly conduct a class or school-wide self-reported Roll Call in a period of a few minutes.

That functionality transfers well to any type of incident where there is a possibility of multiple casualties or when rapid evacuation of a facility is required.

Coverage of recent school shooter incidents shows a common theme in determining the status of students and staff
Students, teachers, and parents panicing after a school shooting
Police and paramedics responding to an emergency
It takes a minimum of 4 hours to get a somewhat accurate tally of everyone’s status and location during an emergency incident. This can be a very anxious time for the school and family members.
A reliable report can be obtained in about 10 minutes using a combination of self-reporting and teacher-directed Roll Calls. That can allow administrators to be advised of the status of individuals and focus efforts where they are needed.
Roll Call request app screen

For Teachers and Chaperones

who may have “temporarily” lost a student on a field trip or sporting event
(never happens, right?)
That can be a very stressful experience!

Students crossing the street with crossing guard

The ability to send out a quick Roll Call request that allows the student or their peers to automatically report GPS coordinates and status can mitigate the problem immediately.

Students crossing the street with crossing guard

Roll calls are recorded and can also be used for attendance tracking and reporting requirements.

Incident Reports

Most Organizations Have Reporting Forms and Protocols for Various Types of Incidents

VillageSafety App Incident Report-ipad-left screen
VillageSafety App Incident Report-iPhone screen

The Keys to Active Utilization of Reporting Systems are:

  1. Easy access.
  2. Quick Completion.
  3. Immediate distribution to appropriate staff.
  4. Effective follow-up.
VillageSafety App Incident Review/Send screen

The VillageSafety Apps Provide a Functional Framework:

  1. Reporting forms are accessible on mobile devices anytime anywhere with a single tap.
  2. Completion of the form is automated with check boxes, auto-fill and text entry fields. Many reports can be completed in less than 2 minutes, and the form also allows for detailed incident descriptions and photographic documentation.
  3. After reviewing the completed report the reporter simply taps “SEND”, and the report is transmitted electronically to designated staff.
  4. Follow-up comments can be attached to the original report documenting the results of further investigation, additional information from the original reporter, as well as the disposition of the issue.

Daily Security Report

Monitor and Analyze Critical Security Procedures

Mobile and desktop devices cloud network

Security communications and events are tracked and recorded throughout each day via the VillageSafety App. The tracked data is aggregated in chronological order and automatically assembled and distributed in a Daily Security Report.

Flow diagram

Data communications in the report include: Safety Alerts, Anonymous Hotline Messages, Broadcast Safety Messages, Incident Reports, Talk-Around Group Messaging and Follow-Up Comments. The chronological order of these communications is particularly useful in understanding the sequence of multiple related communications.

Daily Security Report is automatically distributed to designated recipients via email.

Figures and email envelope

Data Management

A safety program that provides real-time, rapid and appropriate response when things go wrong can yield remarkable benefits.

Graph and clock

A truly superior safety program learns from experience and uses that experience to improve safety.

Chalkboard with motto
Clipboard with 3 checkboxes

A rich treasure-trove of data is generated when all of the features of the VillageSafety App are utilized.

Data is analyzed for repetitive patterns and trends.

Graph with dates

With this information, Management and Security staff can deploy resources where they can be most effective and predict situations that have more risk of incidents.

Post-It note with 'Follow-up' text

Post-incident analysis of system-generated Messaging, Alerts, Reports, and Notifications provides a platform for troubleshooting and improving incident response protocols.

Preparation to post-incident flow

Administrative staff can filter data based on selected criteria. Customized pre-formatted reports can be created by VillageSafety to meet the specific needs of your educational organization.

Documents in a folder with ascending graph markers

Our Story

How we got started....

In 2011 Michael Wiggins, CEO of VillageSafety, was managing the construction of a large inner-city medical facility in the Los Angeles area. As part of a community outreach initiative, local high school students were offered Construction Engineer internships at the medical facility site and other local projects to introduce them to opportunities in the industry. In conjunction with the internships, an ACE (architecture, construction, and engineering) Mentor after-school program was established at a local high school to provide more extensive, structured education on the design and management of building construction. Michael has been the Team Leader of this ACE program for the last 8 years. Students from the first years of the program are now returning as mentors to the current generation of high school students and “paying it forward” after receiving Construction Management and Civil Engineering degrees.

As the ACE program developed it was apparent that faculty and students at the high school were faced with many non-academic challenges, not the least of which was personal safety. Our team recognized that some of the mobile software that had been developed for the construction industry had nearly identical process improvement objectives to the needs in school safety: 1) Continuous safety improvement 2) Rapid response to incidents 3) Enhanced communications. 4) Thorough documentation of events. 5) Data platform for post-incident analysis. We felt that we were uniquely suited to understand the issues and provide functional solutions.

Schools are not unique in this regard. The safety problems that schools face have their origin in the larger community. And those problems find their way into business places, public spaces, transportation venues, houses of worship, and virtually any where that people gather together — the Village. The functionalities developed in the App for schools translate well (using custom configurations) into virtually every other other space where people congregate.

Most of the media coverage of school safety and safety events in other venues focuses on active-shooter incidents and the police/emergency services response to those incidents. While emergency response is an essential element in mitigating consequences of this type of event, there are other factors that affect incident outcomes and the overall safety environment in the community.

A) Rapid and organized response to an incident in the first 10 minutes (before Police arrive) can have a big impact on the outcome. B) Police and Emergency Services have well-organized command and control systems for managing an incident but may not have reliable systems for communicating with and directing students, faculty, and families. C) Most schools have nearly daily safety events that don't rise to the level of an active-shooter event but never-the-less have significant impacts on the safety environment at schools. D) Systems that encourage student and community involvement in the safety of the schools are vital to avoiding incidents, a much better alternative than dealing with the consequences of incidents.

Addressing these factors is the foundation of the VillageSafety Mobile Platform. We know a lot about the safety issues facing our communities, and we know a lot about technology, but we recognize that we don't know it all, so.....we are very good listeners. Bring us your problems and we will bring you solutions.

Safety is a Village Affair

Our Founder

Michael Wiggins, CEO

Michael Wiggins

CEO

Michael Wiggins began his working career in Construction Management and has managed the construction of a wide variety of projects including public schools, courthouses, police departments, hospitals, and corporate campuses, all of which have their own unique set of security and safety requirements. He has been an industry leader in the development of “Lean” (efficient) process improvements, including the creation and implementation of new mobile applications. While continuing to work in the construction industry Michael became a volunteer Paramedic and Firefighter, participating in back-country search and rescue operations, medical emergency responses and structure fire responses.

Michael was instrumental in designing and implementing response protocols and training exercises for multiple casualty incidents and in establishing a CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) Team. He has worked as a paramedic in 911 systems in Denver and San Diego, participating as a first responder in a number of multiple-casualty and active-shooter incidents. Michael has gained additional insight into the daily safety challenges that schools face through his volunteer work as a Team Leader for the past 8 years with the ACE (architecture, construction, engineering) Mentor Program, an after-school program which introduces high school students to building design and construction management.

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If you want to learn more about VillageSafety please contact us. Let us help make your school a safer place.
Safety Is A Village Affair

 (833) 921-2345

info@villagesafety.net

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