Telephone Alerting System
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What is Emergency Telephone Notification?
Emergency telephone notification is a public safety tool that proactively places telephone calls to inform citizens and first responders of pending dangers and public safety issues. After the Cerro Grande Fire, the County contracted with Qwest for its "Emergency Preparedness Network" (EPN) reverse 9-1-1 telephone system that allows emergency response officials to call all or any portion of the County to relay an emergency message.
Why do we need it?
As public safety officials, we’re responsible for the welfare of our County’s citizens. Often traditional methods of disaster notification—TV and radio announcements, door-to-door notification—may not be targeted enough, may not allow for adequate delivery of specific information and may not be the best use of our resources. This system allows us to efficiently identify, notify and provide instructions to as many citizens as needed in minutes. By delivering specific information, we are better able to motivate the desired community response, such as sheltering in place or assisting with a missing child search.
How does it work?
We can activate the EPN in a highly targeted area via any phone or the Internet at any time from any location. Public safety officials map the affected area, record a message and send it on its way. Within moments, calls reach the affected community to deliver simultaneous warnings and critical instructions. The telephone numbers the system uses (land lines only) are extracted from Qwest's enhanced 9-1-1 database for Los Alamos County, so published, non-published, and unlisted numbers are dialed. It is able to process thousands of calls simultaneously and will leave a message if an answering machine picks up. If it reaches a busy signal, it will try back a number of times to reach the intended party.
IF EPN IS ACTIVATED:
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Don’t call 9-1-1 after you receive an alert message – this will keep 9-1-1 open for other emergencies.
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The system generates your phone number only, not your name, so your privacy isn’t compromised. If you have an unlisted or unpublished number, don’t worry – because we extract information from 9-1-1, your number is included in our database.
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Don’t hang up in the middle of the message – the entire message must be played for the system to notify us that it was received.
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Keep a land line at home! Cell phone numbers are not part of the 9-1-1 database.
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If you have call-blocking or privacy features on your phone, it’s important to know that the system may not be able to bypass your features in order to reach you via broadcast announcements in an emergency situation.
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Parents: Tell your children about the system, in case they get a call when you’re away from home – have a family emergency plan in place and review it with them.
If you have any questions about EPN, call the County OEM at 663-3511.
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