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On June 1, 2015 Sheriff Tregre authorized the delivery of 911 emergency radios to all schools throughout St. John Parish as part of his School Safety Program. Sheriff Tregre with the cooperation of the Superintendent of St. John Parish Schools, Principals of Riverside Academy and St. Charles Catholic schools installed new portable and desktop radios in each school that allows direct contact with the 911 communications center. Sheriff Tregre has stated that our students and teachers need to be protected in light of all the emergency incidents that occur throughout our country. This new program will allow the school representative to expedite a call from the radio directly to our 911 operators with instantaneous communication that will shorten the response time for First Responders, whether for Police, Fire or Ambulance.
Sheriff Tregre has acknowledged that the first use of the emergency channel was from Riverside Academy on September 16, 2015. Riverside Academy’s secretary, Mrs. Carolyn Mattison, placed a distress call to the 911 operator with the new radio and requested an ambulance to be dispatched to the school for a student in distress. The student’s breathing was very fast, and she began to have anxiety over what was happening. In less than 4 minutes the first responders arrived at the school, and the student was transported to River Parish Oschner Hospital.
The second incident occurred on September 25, 2015 at 9:44 a.m. at John L. Ory School. An Administrative Staff member utilized the emergency radio to call in to the 911 operator that there was a strong smell of natural gas in the school building. The 911 communication center dispatched the Fire Department and Ambulance to the scene within minutes. For the safety of the students and staff, evacuation procedures were implemented. Sheriff’s Department deputies were on the scene for traffic control. Atmos leak crew arrived on the scene and began detection procedures. At 10:10 a.m. the Atmos crew detected the leak at a riser near the exterior wall of the cafeteria, and the gas was turned off. All students were returned to the building with no medical complaints from staff or students.
Sheriff Tregre’s School Safety Program has been successful and the direct communications between the 911 communication center and the Parish Schools. Sheriff Tregre has indicated that this is the first program implemented in the State of Louisiana where all schools in the parish work off of a 911 Motorola 800 Digital public communication system.