Did you know that each year, over 900 million pieces of paper are used to collect medial and emergency contact information from families? Whether it’s your local recreation center, summer camps, schools, daycares, or after-school programs, families deal with a lot of paper. So, when it comes to schools, ePACT helps eliminate a lot of it, and ensure that school staff always have the most up-to-date information for allergies, medical history, and emergency contact information. We’ve put together the ways that schools use ePACT to support students and their families:
To Gather Student Emergency Information
Schools often require families to submit an emergency form at the beginning of each school year. However, a lot can happen between that information being submitted and the need to use it – cellphone numbers change, new medical conditions are discovered (or existing ones eliminated), and people move. In fact, within 7 months, 33% of handwritten emergency forms are outdated.
ePACT can help schools gather important emergency information from families – send initial invites to families and then simply ask them to re-confirm their details each year. If there’s something to change, families can do so quickly without having to get a new form or having someone manually update a paper copy; if not, they simply share their record again with the school. Either way, if information changes throughout the year, families can access their record to make the change in real time.
To Ensure Staff Know Who Alternate Guardians Are
Deciding who will be the alternate guardian for your child is one of the most important decisions you will make in your family’s emergency planning. If you’re unable to pick up your child from their school or daycare, these contacts could be responsible for their safety and wellbeing. These guardians can change between school years (and during their course too!), so having an easy way to keep information up-to-date so that the school knows who to contact in an emergency is vital.
ePACT allows families to create and maintain a single record that can be shared with schools that use the system – information is updated in real time, so as soon as an authorized staff member checks for those details, they’re right there. For schools that don’t use ePACT, families can print off a paper copy of their record and hand it into the school office, avoiding the often unclear or lengthy process usually used to updated information.
To Keep Emergency Contacts for Students Up-To-Date
While it’s easy for us to think of medical emergencies or natural disasters as the only emergencies we would ever need information for, sometimes, simply being delayed from picking up your kids from work can be emergency enough. Making sure you have people to help support you when you need it the most can provide peace of mind, and ensure that, if your children are at school, you know that they are going to be greeted and picked up by the people you authorize to do so.
As with any other important information, having a way to update this in real-time means that parents don’t have to worry about lengthy processes, finding the right form to fill out or relying on a staff member to update an existing paper form. Simply add your emergency contacts to your ePACT record, and update/remove them as your circumstances change to ensure that your children’s school has everything they need to ensure your children’s safety.
As Part of a Complete Student Safety Plan
Schools are prepared for many different emergencies, whether they’re natural or man-made, simple day-to-day issues, or more serious wide-spread concerns. From creating communication plans and gathering emergency supplies, to maintaining emergency information records and providing regular training and drills, ePACT is a complementary tool.
ePACT helps schools collect critical information proactively, so that it’s available whenever it’s needed the most. It means that schools can continue to support students in any emergency, whether it’s a student release or a school lockdown – understanding medical needs, knowing authorized contacts, and having a way to communicate with families and emergency contacts make ePACT an important part of any school emergency planning.
To learn more about how schools use ePACT for students, see it in action with a free, no obligation system demonstration – click the button below to connect with our team!
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