SMS enabled emergency alert system

Plans are underway to upgrade security in Finnish schools with the use of an emergency SMS system which would be employed in cases such as the shootings that took place last year in Kauhajoki and in 2007 at Jokela.

YLE reports that the Finnish education authorities have commissioned a working group to undertake a risk analysis of schools as a basis for improved security and safety measures. In addition, the group will also investigate the construction of ground floor windows that can be utilised as escape routes and increased emergency exits. Each school will have its own risk analysis in the future which will be used to create a staff-operated security portfolio. These portfolios will also include police advice for handling emergency situations.