Have you been hearing the phrase ‘panic button’ a lot more than you’d like recently? This school year, Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) decided to implement Centegix badges, also known as panic buttons, to North and South High Schools. Staff members have been given a Centegix badge to use in case of an emergency. 

If there’s a mild emergency, such as a fight or a medical situation, then the staff member nearby can press their panic button three times and it will send a signal to a ceiling transmitter, which students may have noticed as the new white boxes hanging from the ceiling. The transmitter would send an alert to the phones of the security staff, the nurses, the assistant principals, and the principal. 

The school’s Registered Nurse, Brandy Rayles, said, “We’ve only had to use [the Centegix Badges] a couple times so far this year, but they’ve been super helpful because we knew exactly where the emergency was.”

If there’s a more serious situation, such as a threat from an outside source, a gun spotting, then, the staff members can press their buttons eight or more times, causing all of the ceiling transmitters to flash red lights, sending the school into lockdown. 

The badges were implemented as a way to protect the students which Assistant Principal, Dustin Carver, said is MCCSC’s main priority. The badges will help students and teachers get the help and attention that they need as fast as possible.