Algonquin College has released a new mobile app that provides students and staff with instant information on what do in case of a campus emergency.
The app is designed to update staff and students about emergency procedures and also features a campus map, bulletins about campus security, and an emergency call button.
The app, which can be downloaded for free onto any Android, Blackberry, or iOS device, is customized for all three of the Algonquin campuses and provides easy access for users in a “what to do in case of” section.
While there has long been emergency procedure information around different locations on campus, “it was the natural evolution of things to move the same sort of information to a digital wireless format,” said Colin Bonang, associate director of safety, security and emergency Management for Algonquin.
“There has always been a need, not for the app, but for new and innovative ways to reach people with information,” Bonang said.
Bonang said there have been over 1,000 downloads so far.
Samantha Brule, a business management student at Algonquin who has yet to download the app, said the easy to reach “Call Security” button on the app is incredibly useful.
“If I was in a hallway alone I wouldn’t know who to call,” she said. “They don’t talk about that in the classroom, they don’t say what to do ‘if.’”
Bonang said he hopes the app will provide emergency procedure information in a different way.
“They may not have had that information before and now they have it at their fingertips.”
