|
|
This web site is provided as a courtesy of the EMCOM
National Emergency Alert Notification System.
|
EMCOM Community Based Emergency Information Websites are Special!
One thing has become extremely apparent with recent weather events, the 9/11
disaster, etc.:
When an emergency or disaster strikes or is imminent, you need information!
- What has, or is about to happen?
- Who is or might be affected?
- When did it, or will it happen?
- Where will/did it happen?
- What actions should I take?
- Where are shelters/aid stations located?
- What evacuation route should I take?
- What streets/highways are blocked or should be avoided?
- ...
Because of this need, EMCOM provides and maintains its very special websites for
every state, county and community in the nation... over 30,000 websites.
Through these web sites (as well as through a host of other means), participating
emergency agencies can instantly provide you with the information you need to
keep yourself and your family safe.
These pages are:
- PubAlert/PopAlert activated - when an emergency strikes or is about to strike your area, an alert screen will "pop-up" when the Emergency Information website
for your area is accessed, or during the time when you have the Emergency Information website in your browser. (In participating areas, there is also an "AlertBug" that will inform you regardless of what you are doing on your computer.)
Bulletins
include:
- Weather Warnings from the National Weather Service
- Homeland Security Alerts
- AMBER and KidSearch Alerts
- Emergency Boil orders
- Any other bulletin issued by the local participating emergency agency
- LiveAlert activated - Participating Emergency agencies can broadcast
live information to you (webcast) via these pages, or create "voice loops",
of critical information/instructions that you can hear by simply accessing
your local Emergency Information website.
- Participating Emergency agencies can immediately post alerts on to the page, or in the news scroll at the top of the page.
- Alert messages are accompanied by a voice file that will "read" the alert
message to you, to get your attention, and for the visually impaired.
- Participating Emergency agencies can immediately post ancillary information,
instructions, shelter/aid station locations, etc. on this page.
- Emergency Notification Monitor - In areas with participating
Emergency Agencies, the public can activate an Emergency Notification
Monitor from this website, such that they an continue to browse the
internet... but should any emergency notification be broadcast, a window
will open on their computer and the text of the bulletin will be displayed.
(as in the PubAlert above).
- Emergency Notification Registration - In areas with participating
Emergency Agencies, the public can register from this page to receive
FREE emergency notifications from Federal, State and Local authorities via
their email, cell phone text messaging, FAX, or by automated voice
notification to their telephone(s) or cell phones. Users can designate by
day of week and time of day as to the media by which they would like to
receive notifications, and the types of notifications they wish to
receive.
- AMBER/KidSearch Alert Posters - Within seconds of an AMBER Alert or KidSearch
Alert being issued through the system, a "mini-poster" will appear in the
center of the page with the child's photo. Clicking on this photo will
bring the user to the actual poster page which can be downloaded directly,
or in a printable PDF format for posting.
When AMBER or KidSearch Alerts are required, the EMCOM system can automatically
access a childs photo, description, distinguishing features, dental records
and fingerprints from the Brightstar database (for parents who participate
in the Brightstar program of the Full Circle Registry). An alert can be
issued to all law enforcement agencies and the public, and the poster can
be posted on 10's of thousands of websites within seconds of a child being
reported missing.
- Participating Emergency agencies can immediately post annotated maps (designated for public release) with incident points, evacuation routes, shelter and
aid station locations, etc., that can be printed for your use.
- Homeland Security Advisory Status - When the Homeland Security
Advisory Status (Color) is changed, it will immediately change on the
Emergency Information Page(s) for the geographic area to which the change
applies. In fact, the EMCOM Homeland Security Advisory Status is depicted,
(and immediately change with the status) on over 1 million pages on the
internet.
- When information on the page is updated, a voice message will alert you to the addition/update of the information.
In some areas where the local Emergency Agencies do not participate in the program,
neighborhood based EMCOM Community Emergency Preparedness Coordinators have
the ability to update the Emergency Information website for their area, to
keep you informed of the situation.
In other areas where the local Emergency Agencies do not participate in the
program, local media stations have the ability to update the site with
critical information. They, (rather than the emergency agency), will
receive the street-by-street, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, situation reports
and camera views generated by the Community Coordinators on their Situation
Display within moments of an emergency, and can post pertinent information
and area views immediately onto the Emergency Information website for the area.
They can also utilize the interactive GIS Mapping/annotation system to
annotate maps based on the information which will immediately post to the
website.
A soon to be released feature (appx. Dec. 1, 2003) will allow you to receive
all of the same emergency information, instructions, situation reports, maps,
photos, evacuation routes, access to the Emergency Victim Locator, local
weather radar and more via your internet capable wireless device, (cell phones,
Blackberrys, PDA's, etc.) Currently tested, certified and recommended
devices include the Blackberry and the T-Mobile Sidekick pda/phones. Others may work, but have not been tested and certified.
NOTE: Please don't email and ask about your specific phone/device. We will
list tested and certified devices as they are made available to us.
Specifically not certified for this application are Nextel devices
where our testing efforts were aborted due to reliability and
service issues that led us to believe that other devices were more suitable
to be relied upon in emergency situations.
|
Be an EMCOM Community Emergency Preparedness Coordinator! Click HERE for details.
|
|
