Adding a First Responder Agency to your District’s Emergency Management

From the portal, First Responders will have access to specific site/building’s EM drill information as well as content like maps or emergency/drill alarm details while responding to an emergency. During an active alarm, First Responders can view alarm details and live chat messages.  

Admins can search for first responder agencies within a specified zip code and radius of their district and can add an agency to access their Emergency Management account.

To search for a first responder agency:

• Log in to your EM and navigate to User Management using the 3 dot action menu near the bottom left corner
• Click on the First Responder tab
• Click + Add First Responder near the top right corner of the page

• Next, input your district’s zip code and select a radius for your search (This will begin a Google search of any public first responder agency within the specified radius of the zip code)
  • To cancel, click Cancel
  • To reset the zip code and search radius entry, click Reset

• Once the search results have populated, click on the desired agency and then click Select
  • To go back at any point in this process, click the back arrow near the top left corner of the pop-up

• Next, select the site(s) this first responder agency will require access to:
  • Choose the entire district or a specific building(s) from the dropdown (As a best practice, the entire district should be shared in case first responder teams rotate to support varying areas within the district’s zip code)
  • Enter the information of the primary/main point of contact from the first responder agency:
    • Name (First, Last)
    • Email
    • Mobile Phone
    • Work Phone + Ext
    • Home Phone
• Click Save to add this first responder agency and primary contact

• After adding/saving the agency & primary contact details, the primary contact will receive a welcome email with a link to create a password to access the Emergency Management first responder portal (example welcome email below)

• Once the primary contact has finalized their login credentials, they can log in to Emergency Management and access their portal which will allow them to access all site(s) they have been added to; and can view important information such as drills, maps and practice/emergency alarm details
  • At this point, the primary contact can begin adding additional first responder contacts from the agency using the User Management section in their portal. Any subsequently added first responder contacts will also be able to add/manage first responder contacts (including the primary) for that agency.  

Admins can update or remove any previously added first responder agency, which will edit or revoke access to their district’s Emergency Management. Common scenarios of when an admin may want to edit or remove an agency from their district’s Emergency Management include:

• The primary contact is no longer with the agency 
• The agency expanded services and is now supporting additional district buildings
• The agency has moved, closed, or is no longer supporting the district or building

To edit a First Responder Agency - Change Primary Contact: 

1. Log in to your EM and navigate to User Management using the 3-dot action menu near the bottom left corner
2. Click on the First Responder tab
3. Locate the first responder agency from the list and click on the agency name to pull up the agency account profile
4. Under Contacts Information, select +Add new Primary Contact to add a new user, or use the radio buttons to designate an existing user as the new Primary Contact. 

To add a building to the Site Access for First Responder agency: 

(In this case the suggested strategy is to remove the agency and re-add with the updated site access)

1. Log in to your EM and navigate to User Management using the 3-dot action menu near the bottom left corner
2. Click on the First Responder tab
3. Locate the first responder agency from the list and click on the agency name to pull up the agency account profile
4. From the first responder agency account profile, scroll down to the Remove Account section and click Remove
5. You have now removed the agency from your Emergency Management solution. The agency will need to be re-added to add additional site access.  To re-add, follow the instructions in Managing First Responder Access

To remove a First Responder Agency - agency has moved, closed, or is no longer supporting the district or building:

1. Log in to your EM and navigate to User Management using the 3-dot action menu near the bottom left corner
2. Click on the First Responder tab
3. Locate the first responder agency from the list and click on the agency name to pull up the agency account profile
4. From the first responder agency account profile, scroll down to the Remove Account section and click Remove
   1. This cannot be undone. To re-add, follow the instructions in Managing First Responder Access
5. On the Remove First Responder pop up, a list of site(s) in which the first responder agency has been given access to will be displayed
   1. To remove the agency’s access to all sites, click Remove in the Remove from all sites section, then click Confirm
   2. To remove the agency’s access to a specific site(s), click Remove next to the desired site(s) in the Remove from specific site section, then click Confirm
6. After clicking confirm, the agency and all of its contacts (including the primary and any other subsequently added contacts) will no longer be able to access the selected site(s) Emergency Management from their portal

Once a First Responder agency is added to your Emergency Management solution, you can subscribe all users in their portal to receive customized drill email notifications. You can choose to send any of the following drill notifications: 

• Drill Scheduled
• Drill Re-Scheduled
• Drill Reminder
• Drill Completed

Accessing First Responder Drill Notification Settings

• Step 1: Within the Prepare section, click on Drills to access all drill-related settings and options.
• Step 2: In the top right corner of the screen, click on Settings.
• Step 3: In First Responder Email Notifications, click Edit. 

A list of all buildings within your district will be displayed. Each building can be set up to send notifications to specific responder agencies.

Setting Notifications at the District Level:

Use Case: Each agency assigned to the district will receive the same customized email notifications for all drills across all buildings. 

• Step 1: Find the District building in the list of buildings. 
• Step 2: Select the specific email notifications options you wish to send to agencies. 
• Step 3: Click Responders on the District building and select all agencies who need to receive email notifications. 
  • Click update to save. If an agency is missing, follow these steps to add the agency. 
• Step 4: Select the checkbox in Use District List column to include the building in the district-wide drill notification email notifications. 

Customizing Notifications for Individual Buildings

Use Case: Different agencies support different buildings across the district. 

• Step 1: Uncheck the Use District List for the buildings who need to have different agencies from the district. 
• Step 2: Select the specific email notifications options you wish to send to agencies. 
• Step 3: Navigate to the first building and click Responders in the Drill Recipient column. This opens the list of agencies associated to the specific building. 
  • If an agency is missing, follow these steps to add the agency. 
• Step 4: Select all agencies who need to receive email notifications. Click update to save.

Complete these steps for each building that needs to be assigned to a unique agency.