Everyone would like to think that they could be relied on to do the right thing in case of a real emergency. Some people are going to miss out on being notified because they cannot or will not be able to receive a cell phone call.
Years ago, a community warning or emergency alert could be made using a large siren and everyone hearing the wail knew to tune into the local emergency broadcast on TV or radio. Times have changed and alerts are now given over a “Reverse 911” dispatch system that places calls to specific phones and homes in geographic area. Sirens have given way to direct calls placed from the emergency system.
It is easy for the system to match specific addresses to individual business and resident landlines. If a noxious gas escaped in a two-block radius, the system can immediately alert any landline in that specific two-block area.
What happens to the 40% of the La Plata County residents that don’t own a landline and rely only on cell phones or Voice only Internet Phones (VoIP)? The cellphones and VoIP phones need to be registered to the La Plata County Code Red alerting system that is used by dispatchers, local governments and law enforcement to notify residents of emergency situations in specific areas.
Lost children, dangerous persons, natural disasters and fires are all examples of critical alerts that you would want to know about immediately when they impact your home, property and family.
Signing up for the service is easy. You can download an app for your smartphone from Apple or Google (yes, there really is an app for that). CodeRED Mobile Alert can be quickly downloaded to your phone.
The program that matches your phone to your home address is found online at www.co.laplata.co.us/emergency. This website ties your address to your cellphone and will alert you of an emergency even if you are traveling out of Colorado.
Want to know if your home is under evacuation for a fire? You register with the website. The more people that use the emergency alert system, the safer our community. The Southern Ute Police Department would like you to help protect yourself and your loved ones.