Local News - February 2003

Reverse 911 alerts public to emergencies

CAN System contacts large groups of people by telephone

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

February 3, 2003 - In an emergency situation, there are common questions that run through people’s heads: Am I safe? Should I leave my home? Where do I go?

Now, with a new program recently implemented in Lincoln County, residents will be personally notified of any emergencies that affect them.

The Community Alert Network, a system which operates like reverse 911, will enable emergency personnel to get information to a large group of people first and fast, said Lt. Leroy Buff.

If there is an emergency, authorities will determine which residents could be affected.

A computer system would then call those residents and alert them to the emergency with a recorded message.

The message will contain information and instructions on what to do or where to go.

The system can also be used to notify the public of other events, such as the opening of shelters, a rash of break-ins in a certain area or missing children.

“There are just so many uses for this,” said Susan Spake, director of Lincoln County emergency management.

The possibilities for use are endless, but officials do not plan on overusing the system, Buff said.

The CAN system will be especially useful when authorities are unable to get information to residents by the usual means, such as television and radio.

“At 2 a.m., most people are out of reach,” said Leslie Scanlan who presented the program to communications center supervisors Friday afternoon.

Going door-to-door with information or relying on a phone tree can take too long, she said.

This high-speed telephone notification can send different messages to different groups at the same time.

It can notify one person, household or business or hundreds of them simultaneously.

CAN has the ability to adapt to non-English speaking residents, as well as people who are deaf.

The system uses 256 lines nationwide and can reach 15,000 people per hour.

CAN is operated in New York and has a back-up system in Nevada, Scanlan said.

If an in-house system were used, phone lines would have to be seized. In addition, more lines would need to be installed.

That’s when the dollars would start adding up, Buff said.

County commissioners agreed to pay the one-time start-up fee of $13,597 in August. Money allocated for local 911 will be used to fund the project.

Another advantage to the system is that it will cut down on non-emergency calls and 911 calls during situations such as storms, Buff said.

“We get a lot of calls from people who want to know what’s going on,” Buff said.

CAN will let them know so they don’t have to tie up 911 lines.

CAN officials want residents to know the following:

·  When CAN calls your phone, the caller ID will say “CAN emergency.” If you do not pick up the phone, a message will be left on your answering machine.

·  Residents who use Telezapper, the device that stops telemarketing calls, will not receive CAN messages.

·  Residents with unlisted phone numbers need to call the Emergency Operations Center at 704-736-8511 to add their number to the list. That phone number will not be used for anything other than emergency calling purposes. No names are included in any data received.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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