On June 25, 2018, the Lake County School Board approved the funding and purchase of Mutualink's interoperable communications solution. Lake County joins many other Florida county school districts deploying Mutualink in the wake of the tragic Parkland school shooting in February of this year. The school safety solution, to be installed in August, will enable real-time, instant coordination between schools and law enforcement, according to Mutualink, and teachers and administrators will now be able to instantly alert and collaborate with public safety in an emergency.

"We are excited about the partnership with Mutualink," said Jimmer Roy, district safety and security specialist, Office of Safety and Security, Lake County Schools, FL. "With this solution, we will have enhanced immediate communications within the school district, and to our law enforcement and emergency services. Having this technology provides improved radio communications and the ability to send urgent video feeds to those responding. This gives us the greatest opportunity for positive outcomes if the unimaginable strikes."

"Lake County's decision prepares them to better respond to serious threats in its schools. This will allow schools to instantly alert and communicate with first responders. Public safety will have immediate video from the school to support an effective and fast response," said Mark Hatten, CEO of Mutualink. "Informed school safety leaders are recognizing a critically important fact that is often taken for granted. Once a life-threatening event occurs in your school, the only people stopping it are your first responders. They are your lifeline, and there is nothing more important than being able to communicate and share information to help stop the threat faster and help injured students and staff quicker."

Lessons Learned from the Parkland Shooting

Nationwide, schools like those of Lake County, FL, know that protecting their students and staff is of the utmost importance. Following the wake-up call from Parkland and the school shooting in Santa Fe, TX, school administrators and law enforcement are working together to provide their communities with a safe education environment. In addition to preventive measures, they are doing this by:

• Implementing direct interoperable communications for radio and video sharing.

• Providing teachers and staff with panic buttons to ensure fast, instant alert.

• Improving situational awareness of responding officers to reduce resolution time.

Lake County joins Seminole County, Osceola County, and Sumter County Schools, as well as area hospitals, higher education institutions, and first responder agencies in Florida on Mutualink's real-time emergency interoperability network. These schools join other school districts around the country implementing Mutualink, which has been recommended by leading school safety experts as an essential safety system.

For more information, visit www.mutualink.net.