Emergency services will notify registered participants
whenever problems arise in the borough
By:John Patten
HIGHTSTOWN Residents who work out of the area won’t have to be surprised when emergencies happen anymore, if they have e-mail access.
Under a new program designed by Emergency Management Coordinator Dean Raymond, residents can register to receive e-mail messages on their computers, cell phones or Palm Pilots whenever problems arise. Hightstown may be one of the first in the area to add e-mail notices to emergency notification services.
"The borough’s too small to not be able to communicate with everyone when something happens," Mr. Raymond said.
Mr. Raymond said the genesis of the E-lert system, as the officials have named it, was the failure of borough water pumps last summer. Although the pumps were quickly replaced, Mr. Raymond said borough officials wanted to notify residents as quickly as possible to avoid using water so the pressure in the system could return to normal.
But communicating with residents requires using every possible method of communication, and the E-lert system will be added to such borough emergency communications as sirens, radio stations and newspaper publications.
"It’s important that people know this isn’t replacing anything," Mr. Raymond added. He said the E-lert system will be added to all of the borough’s other communications.
His goal is to register as many residents’ e-mail addresses as possible, and said future registration drives may be done to make sure as many residents participate as possible.
Then, in the event of an emergency in the borough, residents will be notified through the E-lert.
Mr. Raymond said since the residents’ e-mail addresses will be filed on a disk, the borough will be able to use any point of Internet connectivity to issue emergency notices. If the need arises, notices could be sent from a computer outside of Hightstown.
That way, parents working in New York can still learn quickly if a school is closing early or if the power is out on Main Street.
And the service will not incur additional costs for the borough.
He added the E-lerts will only be sent for local emergencies if it’s an emergency on the county level, only the traditional communication methods will be used.
The borough also encourages local employers and relatives out of the area to register their e-mail addresses so they can also be notified.
"I also envisioned a lot of younger people whose parents live in town, but they live somewhere else," Mr. Raymond said. They could be informed right away if their parents’ home was without water, for example, even if they live in Ohio or somewhere else far away.
To register, residents should e-mail their names, complete mailing address, and up to three e-mail adresses they want notified. For nonresidents, include a mention of your interest in the community borough employer or employee, or child of a resident, for example. E-mail requests can be sent to Mr. Raymond at [email protected], or to Borough Clerk Candace Gallagher at [email protected].
Mr. Raymond also points out the information gathered for the E-lert system will not be available to anyone other than emergency service personnel, and will not be used for any political or general communication purposes.