Sheriff’s Office introduces the CodeRed emergency notification system to Emery County

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Emery County Sheriff’s Office will be implementing CodeRed into its emergency notification system.
Jim Erickson from CodeRed met with the sheriff’s office personnel to talk about the system and how it is used in emergency situations. Erickson said the system is easy to use and will be used for evacuation orders, natural disasters, school closures, search and rescue, any type of natural disaster such as floods, fire, severe thunderstorms, snow storms, tornadoes and any other notification that might be needed.
Erickson said CodeRed can make 60,000 calls an hour. A specific calling area can be pinpointed on a map and everyone within that area would receive an alert phone call.
For example all of Emery County could be activated for an emergency phone call or only Huntington, or each town separately depending on what the emergency is and where the emergency is located. Numbers can also be called based on zip codes.
Anytime an alert is activated the person activating the alert will also receive the alert phone call. The people in an alert call area will be contacted with three phone calls if they don’t answer the first time. A message will also be left on their phone, but they will still be contacted three times in an attempt to make contact with a person. One thousand phone numbers at a time can be called.
Pre recorded messages can be launched, but the most effective messages are those that are time sensitive and those that can be changed with updates as the emergency situations are resolved. Specific messages are more effective because the time and date can be added to the message to make it more effective.
If someone calls back the emergency message number, then the emergency message will be played to that caller.
The 911 emergency number system will be uploaded to the CodeRed data bank and this system includes all unlisted phone numbers.
Sheriff LaMar Guymon said the sheriff’s office wants to educate the public about the launch of this new system. Emery County will have its own phone number which will show up on the caller ID when an emergency message is being delivered. This number will always remain the same it is: 866-419-5000. If you see this number on your caller ID then answer the call for an emergency message.
CodeRed also has a reporting system which lets the launcher know how many people were reached by the message and how many didn’t pick up the phone.
The CodeRed service is offered with a fee for minutes used. The county will have a minute bank. Any launched calls will be subtracted from the minute bank.
CodeRed can also be used to notify an area of a missing child.
Sheriff Guymon said, “The use of this new emergency notification system will be very beneficial to our county.”
Residents will also be urged to visit the website to update their own information. They will be able to include cell phone numbers for notification purposes also. Sheriff Guymon said, “No one should automatically assume their phone number is included. All businesses should register, as well as individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the last year and those who use a cellular phone as their primary home phone.
“CodeRed is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation. The system works fine for cell phones too, but we have to have a street address.
“People who have recently moved but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number also need to change their address in the data base. CodeRed gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for doing so. The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes.”
Sheriff Guymon will be the one in charge of any message launches.