THOMSON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) — McDuffie County teachers can lock doors at any time to protect their students with a new Security system.

All seven schools in the district use Centegix. Teachers download the app to their phone and press a button on their lanyard whenever there is danger.

The McDuffie County School System won a security grant to install a security system capable of shutting down the school and the entire district within five seconds of a threat.

“In medical emergencies and security situations…seconds count,” Superintendent Mychele Rhodes said.

Security is the top priority, which is why they installed Centegix. It provides immediate assistance in an Emergency.

“We use Centegix for several different situations. If there is a student disruption, Centegix is ​​used if there is a medical emergency, and if there were intruders on campus or an outside threat,” Rhodes said.

It has already been used for the first five days of school.

“We had a medical emergency this week. We were able to get the ambulance to campus quickly because we knew where the badge was and where the emergency was going on,” he said.

This help is at hand. Each faculty and staff member wears a badge with an emergency button.

“When this active emergency appears on both computer and phone, we see this badge almost like a heartbeat,” Rhodes said.

Administrators can also operate the system via an app. They have drills throughout the school year, so students know exactly what to do.

Dearing Elementary Principal Stacey Amerson said: ‘When staff issue a staff alert, it goes straight to my phone, to my principles of assistance phone, to the school resource manager, to the phone of Dr. Rhodes, as well as on our desktop computers.”

There are staff, shelter and tornado alerts, evacuation alerts and lockdowns. Ranging from level one to three depending on severity.

“If we go into this level three lockdown, he immediately notifies 911 and we have emergency responders dispatched to our building,” she said.

Once the confinement is in force, parents are also notified

“As a parent with the Centegix combined with the one-call notification system, it’s very reassuring that we have these things in our district and are able to provide a safe and secure environment for our students,” said said Amerson.

In addition to Centegix, the school system also conducts ongoing checks of every door on every campus. With school resource officers circling to check doors and extensive camera systems that someone is constantly monitoring.

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