Deb Merion: Beyond the fire drill

If my kids were still in school, I know I’d welcome such a tool. But the emergency software is more than a cure for formophobics or scribblers.

“In 2005, I watched how it took weeks for displaced families to reunite after Hurricane Katrina, and thought that there had to be a better way,” said Johnson, CEO of CYJ Enterprises LLC and a former project manager at Compuware.

Parents, schools, child and senior day care centers, sports clubs, and emergency responders such as fire and police will be able to securely access the information on the web when it is needed. Parents will have the option to upload a photo of their child and of adults who can or can’t pick up their child.

Johnson recently entered her software in the Great Lake Entrepreneurs Quest (GLEQ) and has received $40,000 to date through Detroit’s TechTown and personal funding. She is currently seeking additional funding for future releases, which will initially target the 2000 day centers in Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw and Oakland counties.

GLEQ judges were concerned the software would recreate the wheel in emergency notification software, but Johnson said she is incorporating a back end of existing emergency software similar to the Everbridge mass notification software currently used by the University of Michigan.

“Many schools have notification systems, but anyone can sign up for an alert and there is no tie-in to a child,” said Johnson.

Johnson used the example of a recent incident where an oil tanker overturned on the highway near a day care center, and children could have required evacuation. The system can automatically send out an email or text message directing parents to the new location and track which parents received the message and their responses.

The system is also designed to communicate more mundane reminders such as: “bring boots for a trip to the zoo tomorrow,” which check the emergency viability of the system, and open a two-way communication email channel with parents, who may write back with a note such as “My daughter is terrified of polar bears.”

The software prints out a report of non-functioning email addresses and phone numbers for the school administration.

“We are always interested in the idea that people can update the number on the Web. The question is, would they?” asked Lisa Lemble, operations manager for Gretchen’s House, which operates nine day care locations.

They make ten copies of each emergency card for the school, teacher’s homes, and the bus, and also type the information into a computer database.

Johnson will be in Techtown in Detroit on September 12 speaking about emergency preparedness. A second release of e-CYREN is planned for this December. The charge to schools and day care centers will be $39.95 per family.

-Debbie Merion writes about health for Ann Arbor Business Review. Write to her at debbie@debbiemerion.com.