Shenandoah pioneers CodeRed system in Montgomery County

By: CHEVALIER MAYES, Villager staff

11/16/2005

The city of Shenandoah is breaking new ground in Montgomery County with the purchase of the CodeRed system from Emergency Communications Network.
At the city's regular city council meeting Nov. 9, council members voted to implement the Internet-based system, which will allow the city to launch over 1,000 phone calls per minute.
The new system makes it convenient and possible for the city to pass on information to every resident by phone about emergency conditions or important community events, including weather related emergencies, chemical spills, gas leaks, public safety information and many other things.
City Administrator, Chip VanSteenberg, said the system has been used to find missing children and Alzheimer's patients.
A report from VanSteenberg about the CodeRed System, said it has cutting edge mapping tools that displays a map of the city and allows users to circle or shade any street, neighborhood, or region needing an emergency phone call.
"They system allows us to record a message and send it to all residences and businesses, or a selected amount," VanSteenberg said. "The system can deliver over 100,000 calls in an hour, so for us this means within a few minutes everyone in Shenandoah can be identified."
The city plans to have the system set up and running by the end of the year.
If a resident would rather receive a message from the city's new system on their cell phone or a number aside from their residence, there will be a link on the city's Web site that will allow them to list other phone numbers.
VanSteenberg said the city purchased the system through a Florida based company. He said there are reverse 911 products available that do basically the same thing as CodeRed, but the CodeRed system is more cost efficient and reliable.
The city of Shenandoah, he said, is the first client its particular region to purchase the system.
VanSteenberg said the system can be helpful in almost all cases; such as if there has been a rash of burglaries in one specific area, residents in that area can be notified.
VanSteenberg said the system assisted with the capture of a couple of violent criminals in Colleyville, Texas, who were attacking women while they were home alone in the evening.
POST RITA ANALYSTS: Shenandoah's Emergency Management Committee and City Staff conducted an evaluation and analysts about the way the city handled the Hurricane Rita ordeal. The team concluded, among many other things, that getting direct information to Shenandoah residents and businesses is a problem and cell phone service is not reliable during an emergency.
In addition, the city realized it must find ways to improve fire services in the city, must develop standard operating procedures to supplement the county-wide emergency management plan and develop an emergency management contingency in the city's budget to cover the costs associated with the city's response
To combat a few of the problems the city encountered during Hurricane Rita, the team recommended the purchase of generators, above ground fuel tanks for unleaded and diesel fuel, satellite phones, an emergency notification system to keep residents and businesses informed about current conditions and emergency instructions, additional barricades and winches mounted to Public Works Trucks to clear debris from streets and ditches.
For more information about the city of Shenandoah, call (281) 292-5522.
Chevalier Mayes may be reached at cmayes@mail.hcnonline.net.