Key control and management for emergency situations at educational facilities

It used to be that the word “lockdown” was only ever used in reference to an emergency protocol to restrict movement in a prison environment. Today however, the term is in common usage in educational and other environments to describe measures taken under certain conditions of threat. In this article, Fernando Pires, VP of Sales and Marketing at Morse Watchmans, explains that lockdowns, along with building evacuation and sheltering procedures, are an integral part of a school’s emergency plan that can save lives.

These best practices are foundational mechanisms that enable effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management by school staff and first responders. Specialised technologies such as key control and management systems are an additional resource that can further facilitate incident management and help ensure the safety of the building’s occupants.

Key control and management systems are used to store and safeguard mechanical and access card keys for a facility. Access to keys is granted only to pre-authorised personnel presenting viable identification such as an approved user code, an access identification card or a pre-registered biometric finger- or hand-print. The system tracks all access activity so school administration or facility management knows who removed a key and when, and if/when the key was returned.

Planning and Prevention

Key control and management facilitate incident management and help ensure the safety of a building's occupants

Preparedness activities in advance of any potential incident are fundamental in a school’s emergency plan. Procedures such as vacating hallways, shelter-in-place and locking doors are particularly important steps and even more so where minors are involved. In the case of a lockdown in an education environment, whether primary schools, secondary schools, or higher education, a robust key control and management system can provide an additional layer of security and information for first responders. For example, badges can be pre-configured and distributed to designated first responders and in the event of an incident, when they reach the scene they simply scan the badge into the system and the critical emergency keys will be released.

The key control system makes it easier for  school teachers to act in accordance with emergency procedures such as shelter-in-place and locking doors from the inside. The locked doors can only be opened from the outside with a key that is stored in the key cabinet and those keys can only be accessed by authorised individuals with a proper code, badge or biometric identification. Key control systems allow emergency personnel to quickly and easily have access to locked classroom doors, closets and other spaces where children and teachers might be hiding from a gunman – or where a criminal may be hiding.

Key control takes on even more relevance in emergency planning and preparedness on college and university campuses. Campuses often cover large geographic areas; student and faculty personnel change from semester to semester; hospitals, research facilities, dormitories and food service areas are additional to academic facilities – and all have keys that need to be cataloged, stored and tracked. In these particular situations, a key control and management system can help address the challenges related to a campus emergency and help facilitate the needs of first responders. Without adequate measures in place for securely storing keys and accurately tracking their use, keys to sensitive areas, private offices and restricted sites can become misplaced, resulting in serious breaches of security and the possibility for valuable time lost when emergency situations arise. A key control system maintains strict accountability for keys and limits both key duplication and distribution.

Actionable, Timely Information Elevates Response

College and university campuses are never entirely closed and people are coming and going all the time. Buildings are often open 24 hours a day or, if locked, accessible with school badges. Entrance to labs, IT departments and other restricted areas is usually by physical keys or access control cards. In all, key control is a very strategic and integral element within the school’s security platform and actionable, timely information is critical to its functioning.

Scheduled email reports of what keys are in or out and who has/had them keeps security management informed and up to date. If an incident occurs, management can query the system for specific details such as listing all transactions between certain times and when doing a follow up investigation, request a report for the hour preceding the incident. Or, immediately following an incident, a report can be generated showing which keys are back in the system and which keys are still outstanding and who last accessed them. Together with the audit data from an access control system, a key control system’s reporting system provides a strong evidence trail.

When time is of the essence, the up-to-date and reliable information provided by a key control system can be accessed quickly, allowing personnel to proceed with established procedures regarding secure areas or valuable assets. For example, if school vehicles must be moved out of an area because of potential flooding or fire, doing so quickly and efficiently can depend on how quickly each of the vehicle keys can be located. Immediate confirmation of where the keys are or identifying who has possession of them can make the difference in saving or losing school assets.

Key control systems designed with touch screens also provide the user with a convenient interface for querying key activity. If the security guard notices lights on in an office when they shouldn’t be or hears what sounds like a gun shot in a building, the key control system can provide important and immediate information. With just a few touches to the screen, the guard can quickly and easily determine which keys are out, who took them and when. This information can prove vital in determining a response to the immediate situation. Pertinent information regarding access to a restricted area such as a bio-hazard area may also be required. The notes function of a key control system can provide information such as “respirator needed for entrance”, or a key control system can be programmed to provide random, one-time codes that must be entered when using the key.

System Features Enhance Efficiency

It’s also important to remember that in addition to traditional first responders such as fire, law enforcement and EMS (emergency medical services) personnel, there is a wider circle of school staff and departments who play an integral role in emergency situations. Key control systems that are strategically located, networked and easy to use and manage add to an individual’s ability to efficiently cope with an emergency.

Larger sized LCD screens on the front of the key cabinet allows for easier viewing by the user and also permits the addition of more information to be displayed on the screen. Content, directions or other information is displayed with crisp colors and high contrast resolution to help ensure excellent readability. Newer systems even display keys available for access or can provide users with the location of a specific key. Mobile apps enable authorised users to see a wide range of live information and to interact remotely with the key control systems for added security or response time.

Educational facilities, staff and first responders face a greater variety and intensity of personal threats than ever before. For these reasons, key control and management should be part of any emergency plan for  school buildings and higher education campuses.