'Panic Button' app comes to Brevard County

Schools in Brevard country will soon be able to push the panic button -- literally.

A popular app to deal with armed intruders is about to be part of the new normal. Many districts all over Florida are already using the technology. The goal is to streamline communication in an emergency, to avoid mistakes like the ones that happened inside Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. 

“We’ll have this so anyone on campus can initiate a campus lockdown,” said Chad Kirk Principal at Melbourne High. “So it really cuts down on the communication fog of war situation that happens.”

Syncing up with the App cost the district 290,000, but that could be reimbursed by the state, and Principal Kirk says it's worth it for peace of mind if a gunman ever got onto school grounds.

“It cuts response time basically in half,” Kirk explained.

The app- made by Rave Mobil safety- has a panic button that alerts everyone in the school as well as area law enforcement.

“I support anything a teacher can do to help the kids forget about all the violence,” said Kathy Bean.

Bean is mother and grandmother and she says school officials have made a wise decision. When she was in school, back in Iowa, someone shot a bullet through a stall in a girls bathroom.

“I remember back then how that scared everyone, but now it’s just a roller coaster everything is out of control,” Bean said.

This app is an upgrade from walkie talkies - that’s how schools have communicated in past emergencies.