Enhancing School Safety and Operations with Verkada Incident Response

In an emergency, knowing the status and location of impacted individuals is critical. In locations like schools, it is also imperative that minors are safely released to their guardians in a coordinated process that maintains control, organization, and traceability.  

Today, we are pleased to announce a new reunification feature modeled after the Standard Reunification Method (SRM) developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation. This feature allows organizations to securely manage and, if necessary, reunite individuals following an emergency, ranging from severe weather to violent incidents.

Setting Up Incident Response in Command 

When creating an Incident Response plan in Verkada Workplace, Command admins determine the types of events that may occur and create new scenarios for each one. With Verkada Guest’s Student Information System (SIS) integrations with Clever, Classlink, and PowerSchool*, student and guardian information is readily available, eliminating the need to create and continuously update rosters during the year. 

When writing each scenario, admins must identify all personnel types who should be managed during the emergency (e.g., teachers, students, and visitors) and establish a comprehensive set of status definitions to accurately mark the current state of each person accounted for (e.g., "Safe," "Unaccounted For," "Reunited"). 

During an Incident 

For convenience, when a reunification event is in progress, staff can access the response protocol through a web link – eliminating the need to log into Command or download an application. This link routes to the response dashboard, which can be opened in any browser.

Reunifying Students and Guardians 

The Incident Response feature facilitates a controlled release of students to their guardians post-incident. After a student is accounted for, they can be moved to a secure waiting area. Guardians then check in with school staff using Incident Response, which prompts a security screening and a cross-reference against internal deny lists for safety.

After successfully checking in, guardians can be taken to a different location from the students, creating physical distance between adults and children for safety. Trusted individuals such as school staff or first responders can then act as reunifiers – pairing students with their guardians. 

Preparing for Emergency Drills and Real-Time Management

To ensure preparedness and familiarity, Incident Response scenarios can be converted into drills for practice via a simple checkbox on the Incident Response interface. This enables users to practice response protocols using the exact interface they would use in an actual emergency. 

Availability

These updates are available on October 9, 2025. To learn more, contact your Verkada sales representative or reach out to get a personalized demo at [email protected].

*The PowerSchool integration is in beta, please talk to your sales representative for more information.