You might have noticed that many digital clocks have appeared on campus. If you think these clocks are just for telling time, you’re wrong. They could save your life if an emergency happens.
The clocks are part of a school emergency notification system. David Perreault, a security infrastructure analyst, says there are currently 317 emergency clocks in all three campuses.
The clocks can do more than just tell time. Josh Fortier, a security manager of Sheridan College said, “So we put emergency alerts on the Sheridan alert app and those messages can come through the clock. They can send a siren, a verbal message with words in it, they can send a message across the screen too. If someone is having a hard time of hearing, they can see the message on these clocks.”
This is what the emergency audio sounds like:
The older speaker pictured above cannot deliver a message in text. Therefore, students with a hearing problem cannot get the message easily. Also, the old speakers are connected by a box that powered 12 of them. If one of them gets cut, the security cannot directly identify which one has problem.
Fortier also said, “The new clocks are powered as individually unit, we can send a message to the individual one. If the clocks get break or the cable gets cut we can get notified through our system. So, it let us know there’s one problem with this one clock instead of over 200.”
However, in a random survey, only two of the 20 students knew theses emergency clocks. Crystal Wu was one of them.
“I know this is an emergency clock because I saw the article on Sheridan insider,” said Crystal Wu, a second year photography student, “but I don’t know how this clock going to work when emergency happens.”
If you want to be prepared when an emergency happens you should also download the Sheridan Alert app. It contains many features, such as emergency contacts, safety tips, safe walk, maps, and it’s connected to the emergency clocks.
