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Woodland Hills School District Getting High-Tech Emergency Response System

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A local school district is in the process of installing some new software that will increase response time and save lives in the event of a crisis.

The Woodland Hills School District is in the process of installing a new software system called Campus Response. It's the first district in the country to install such a system.

Datanetics CEO Michael Lisovich is the brains behind it all.

"It's my hometown. I went to school at all these schools and my hometown loyalty, you come back," Lisovich said.

Datanetics specializes in computer solutions and, vulnerability and threat assessment.

Now, he's ready to make a difference.

"If you look at all the stats, active shooters aren't that long - the incident. That means the school has to manage them by themselves a lot of times before law enforcement shows up," he said.

Lisovich designed Campus Response with Woodland Hills in mind. The goal is to increase communication and response time in a crisis situation.

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"This system will communicate. It's not just about heaven forbid there should be an incident - an active shooter incident, some kind of catastrophe, some kind of threatening situation - but we can also use this system to reach out about everything from snow delays to cancellations to events going on in the district," Woodland Hills School Board President Tara Reis said.

Teachers, administrators, local law enforcement and emergency responders will be able to access the program from their computer.

The system will automatically push out all the information needed in the first five seconds.

"We would be able to log onto the system and have access to maps and cameras to the school, which would allow us to deal with that problem quickly," Swissvale Assistant Police Chief Charles Watson said.

"If we have a child let's say who went to the nurse's station for an asthma attack. The program will be able to tell us what access to use to enter the nurse's office, the patient's name, any medical history they have with asthma or medications," Woodland Hills EMS Director Frank Mastandrea said.

They'll also be able to download an app, which will be offered to students, parents and even the media.

Specific information only goes to the group that it needs to reach at the time.

"If they have the mobile app, it will turn on locator to see where they're at. Gives student info, parent info so can quickly call and say was your student in school today, have you heard from them?" Lisovich

The program will also provide a virtual window into the school, monitor social media activity and access student information.

A gunshot detection system also is being installed at the high school.

Lisovich is installing everything for free, which something the district is forever grateful for.

"To have a system like this, it's not only unprecedented for our school district, but I think what people need to realize in the financial realities of today, forced to do more with less," Reis said.

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