Orange County Is Improving How Employees and Residents Are Informed During Emergency Situations
By Chris Cord, Emergency Communications Center Director
Public Safety Officials Encourage Employees and Residents to Sign Up For OC - Alert, the Free Service To Be Better Prepared for an Emergency
Orange County ’ s public safety offices are excited to announce that a new Alert notification system is now available to all employees and residents. The Orange County Alert system (OC - ALERT) is a FREE service that allows individuals to sign up for urgent notifications sent from state and local authorities. OC - ALERT keeps employees and informed on potentially hazardous situations and emergencies.
Orange County Emergency Communications Director Chris Cord noted that, “ This alert system enables authorities to notify the community in real time. This service allows for critical communication with the public
and provides individuals with the information needed to stay safe or take precautions during hazardous or emergency situations. ” Cord added, “ There will, however, be limited or little weather information provided as weather events are ever changing and can overwhelm the system. Given the numerous sources of weather information available to everyone these days, individuals are urged to track weather events from those sources. ” OC - ALERT enables employees and residents within Orange County to sign up for free at https:// www.getrave.com/login/orangecountyva and receive timely and actionable emergency alerts. Residents can control how they are notified by selecting email, text, or voice message as their means of notification. Previously, the County utilized the Code Red service which has since been terminated. Individuals who signed up for that service will need to visit the OC - ALERT website to add their names and number information to receive notifications. Employees can receive alerts for inclement weather delays or office closures.
“ Residents will receive notifications that will improve safety in our County and help inform residents of potentially lifesaving actions that they may need to take in an emergency, ” said Cord. “ The information sent out by OC - ALERT through emergency notifications allows employees, residents, and first responders to be better informed in an emergency situation. ”
“ This alert notification system will be able to send voice, texts, e - mails, and messages to our residents and simultaneously post to our Facebook and Twitter accounts, ” said Cord. “ We encourage all members of our community and their families to sign up for OC - ALERT in order to be prepared should an emergency occur. ”
OC - ALERT is provided by Rave Mobile Safety, utilized by numerous institutions including state and local authorities, and business and educational institutions. Citizens are encouraged to sign up for OC - ALERT and input their information and notification preferences. Their information will immediately be available to 9 - 1 - 1 and to receive emergency notifications. OC - ALERT is private and secure, and information received from the registration is used only for emergency notifications.
Page 5 | November, 2021
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