Lynx puts UPD at fingertips

New icons have been installed on multiple computers on campus allowing trained faculty and staff to contact the university police department in case of an emergency.

Lynx is the web-based computer component bought to supplement the Pride Alert Warning System (PAWS), which is Texas A&M University-Commerce's mass notification system.

The digital buttons can be found on many staff computers, one red and one green. The green button is designed to open an instant message window, allowing a person to send an alert directly to UPD. The red icon, or "get here now button," is treated as a panic, where UPD assumes a serious incident is taking place.

"An audio alert appears on the officers' laptop at the exact same time as dispatch is alerted, which would result in a faster response time," UPD's Lt. Jason Bone said.

There are a few kinks being worked out in the system, including the difficulty of reverse notification on Macintosh computers. This feature would allow UPD to send a scripted pop-up message to every university computer on campus.

Eventually the UPD hopes to incorporate Lynx with the officer's cell phones through text message, and they are looking into a way to link alerts with the InfoScreens around campus.

All university workers will be required to go through mandatory training before having the icons installed on their computers that goes over how Lynx works and appropriate times to use it. There has been one accidental panic triggered so far, and Bone said UPD responded to it in about a minute.

"They treat it like it's serious…because we assume there is a dire situation," he said.

Bone said the training is required mostly to know the circumstances for when Lynx is necessary.

"You wouldn't use that button when someone is having a heart attack," he said.

This is important to note in light of a medical emergency that took place earlier in the month at the James G. Gee Library. 70-year-old Commerce resident Murrell Hogue Jr. was reading a newspaper in the library, when someone noticed he was having problems breathing.

According to Associate Director of Libraries Gail Johnston, the librarian at the desk, David Rankin called 9-1-1 and the staff did everything they could until Hunt County Emergency Medical Services could arrive.

"Everything was done exactly the way it was supposed to be," Johnston said. "Everything was done that could be done to help that man."

In an earlier article published by The East Texan based off of the UPD police report, Hogue was said to have died at the library, when in fact he did not pass away until he had been taken away from the campus in an ambulance headed toward Hunt Regional Community Hospital.

"We really work very hard to make the library a safe and comfortable place," Johnston said.

Although this incident did not require the use of the Lynx software, the training the staff received allowed Rankin to make the right call.

The new software has been met with approval by students who are aware of the Lynx system, still in its initial stages.

"I feel like any way to make it easier for you to get help, people should jump at the technology," freshman new media major Dakota Smith said.