Fort Lee Schools Lead Way Forward In School Security Planning
FORT LEE, NJ (CBSNewYork) - In an emergency, seconds count. It took police nine minutes to respond to the Columbine High School shooting, but it took them 90 minutes to locate a building map.
WCBS 880's Sean Adams On The Story
Podcast
But one borough in New Jersey is leading the way in preventing that problem.
Fort Lee is now the first school district in the nation to use MapEverywhere software.
Basically, it's a detailed floor plan with critical infrastructure information that can be downloaded to a smartphone.
Steven Engravalle says MapEverywhere is potentially life-saving technology.
"What we have sent over to a company was nothing more than a photocopy of a photocopy from probably 1968 and in three days, they returned an interactive map with all of our points of interest that we gave to them," he said. "Simple. Easy to use."
MapEverywhere president Chuck Seergy says first responders wont even need to have a cell signal.
"Based on the data, and the map itself, will figure out, by way of the algorithm, where you are and take you to where you want to go, instantaneously turn-by-turn. It will show on the application as if you were walking through the place," he told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams on Friday.
Seergy believes MapEverywhere could be useful in hospitals, airports, and universities.
The next generation will include live video links.
