SPRINGFIELD TWP. -- Trustees and residents should know by now whether a
new emergency communication systems passed its first test.
Residents were to have received a short recorded message regarding the
closing of Winton Road for the July 1 Summer Blast parade.
Trustees recently approved a $15,000 contract with a Florida firm to
produce the CodeRed high-speed phone messages.
Township Administrator Mike Hinnenkamp said the system can be used by
all of the township departments to alert all or a selected number of
township residents and businesses.
"It could be a road closing, like Winton Road, but we envision it
being used more to provide information in the event of a natural
disaster," Hinnenkamp said.
Police Chief David Heimpold said his department will use the system to
alert both residents and businesses of specific crimes, such as a rash of
neighborhood burglaries and vandalism, or counterfeit money crimes.
"We also will use it for missing children and Alzheimer
walk-aways," Heimpold said. "We think it will be a very useful
tool for both our department and our residents and businesses."
The contract allows the township up to 60,000 calls per hour. Hinnenkamp
said those messages likely will be only 30-40 seconds in duration.
The township will convey the message it wants communicated to the firm.
It, in turn, will notify residents using published telephone numbers.
Residents with unlisted numbers can be added to the roster by calling or
e-mailing the township, Hinnenkamp said.
"We already have received more than 100 unpublished numbers to add
to the list," he said.
Hinnenkamp said that the one instance where the system could prove
invaluable is one he hopes never happens.
"In the event of a pandemic, anthrax or other chemical or
biological outbreak, this would be the most effective way to warn residents
and give them the information they need as quickly as possible," he
said.
To ensure no one is omitted, residents and businesses can go to the
township Web site at www.Springfieldtwp.org,
and follow the link to the CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection
page.
No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included.
All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have
unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address
within the last year, and who use a cellular phone as their primary home
phone.
Since the CodeRed system is a geographical based notification system,
street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive
emergency notification calls in any given situation.
The system works for cell phones, a street address still is needed.
People who have recently moved but kept the same listed or unlisted phone
number also need to change their address in the database.
The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes,
Hinnenkamp said.
For more information call the township at 522-1410.
