For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

City of Gloucester Encourages Residents, Businesses to Sign Up for New Emergency Alert System

GLOUCESTER — Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and Fire Chief Eric Smith are encouraging residents to register their contact information with the city’s new emergency notification system, which is powered by Smart911.

Smart911 is a free service that allows residents to sign up online to provide vital information to 911 call takers during an emergency which allows first responders to make faster and more informed responses. The system also allows participants to receive emergency notifications, advisories, weather alerts, information about community events and park facilities, traffic alerts and weather warnings.

“The information sent out by Gloucester Emergency Alerts allows both residents and first responders to be better informed in an emergency situation,” Mayor Romeo Theken said. “And, you can expect that you’ll still hear a familiar voice to offer the latest updates, too.”

Smart911 allows residents and travelers to create a safety profile for their whole household that includes any information they might want 911 dispatchers and first responders to have in the event of an emergency, such as allergy information or pre-existing medical conditions.

“This new Smart911 emergency alert system will save time and more importantly, has the potential to save lives,” Chief Smith said. “We are encouraging residents and businesses to provide us with every means of notification including home numbers, cellphone numbers and email addresses to ensure we are reaching everyone in the community when we send out an alert.”

When a citizen dials 911, their safety profile is automatically displayed to the 911 call taker, allowing them to send the appropriate responders to the right location with accurate information. Residents can create and manage their own profiles through the secure site — other users will not be able to view your information.

Gloucester residents who have been receiving calls on their publicly listed land lines from CodeRed, the city’s old notification system, do not need to register their information again, but are strongly encouraged to register anyway and create their own profile to ensure they are in the new system. Residents who received emergency notification calls on a cell phone must sign up for Smart911 here to continue receiving alerts.

Additionally, with Smart911, citizens can link both home and work addresses to mobile phones, which can be passed on to responders in the field for more a detailed and rapid response. Additional information including pets in the home, vehicle details in the event of a crash, and even emergency contacts can all be included in a user’s safety profile. All information is optional and the citizen has the ability to choose what details they would like to include and also the ability to change and update this information as needed.

Residents are encouraged to create their safety profile with Smart911 today to have their information immediately available to 911 dispatchers and to receive emergency notifications. Smart911 is private and secure, is only used for emergency responses and is only made available to the 911 system in the event of an emergency call.

For more information about Gloucester’s new emergency alert system or to sign up, visit the website.

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