Two local boroughs have taken a significant step to keep their residents informed in emergency situations.
In the event of emergencies that require public notification, the boroughs of Oceanport and Tinton Falls have upgraded to a new high-speed telephone emergency notification service known as CodeRED.
CodeRED, part of Emergency Communications Network Inc. of Ormand Beach, Fla., is a computerized systemthat will rapidlymake automated telephone calls to residents in order to provide recorded messages about emergencies that arise.
“The CodeRED system is capable of alerting thousands of Tinton Falls citizens in amatter ofminutes,” said Borough Council PresidentMichael Skudera in his e-mail informing residents of the new system.
Tinton Falls previously sounded alerts using emergency sirens or police cars with load speakers, according to Skudera.
“This new system is a faster and more effective way to alert the residents of Tinton Falls,” Skudera said.
In Oceanport, the new emergency notification system replaces an old system that was part of the Oceanport Board of Education’s telephone network. The new system is part of a shared service arrangement with the Oceanport Board of Education.
According to Oceanport Emergency Management Coordinator Capt. Buzz Baldanza, the CodeRED system will provide emergency notification to people in the entire town or specific sections of town and on specific lists depending on the nature and extent of a given emergency.
“We have built in redundancy to our emergency notification systems,” Baldanza said. “This is one of three systems we have in town. If one fails, we have backup systems with our Emergency Alerting and 1610 AM Emergency Radio System”.
Emergencies that might require use of the system include situations such as road closures, natural gas leaks, hazardous material spills, flooding, missing children and emergency school relatedmatters. It also allows for the boroughs to share important evacuation notices, bio-terrorism messages and notices to boil water.
However, Baldanza said that such telephone based emergency notification systems are only as good as the telephone number databases that they use.
“If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called,” Baldanza said.
It is also important during power outages to have a hard-wired corded telephone that is plugged into a telephone jack and uses power from the phone company, Baldanza said. Wireless phones will not work without power and mobile phone batteries might fail.
Individuals and businesses are able to add their telephone numbers to the CodeRED systemdatabase, which is linked to both Oceanport and Tinton Falls Web sites. The required information includes a first and last name, street address, town, state, ZIP code and primary telephone as well as an optional secondary telephone number. Cell phone numbers may be provided, but must be accompanied by street addresses.
A database of phone numbers is being downloaded based on town ZIP codes, but it is still a good idea to register, according to Baldanza.
“No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included,” Baldanza said. “All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number during the last year and who use their cellular phones as their primary phones.”
Those residents who have recently moved within either borough but have kept the same listed or unlisted telephone numbermust also change their street addresses in the database at the CodeRED Web site, Baldanza said.
Baldanza urged all Oceanport residents and businesses to visit the boroughWeb site or the Board of Education Web site at www.oceanportboro.com and www.oceanport. k12.nj.us to find the CodeRED hyperlink.
For Tinton Falls residents wishing to add their information to the CodeREDdatabase, the link can be found at the borough Web page, www.tintonfalls.com.
Sea Bright residents whose children attend Oceanport schools will be included in a special call list, which will be provided by the borough.
The notification system is geographically based, which allows towns to be specific about who is notified in the case of given emergencies.
An example might be if a certain road was flooded in a storm. In this case, the town would be able to notify all the residents within a specified radius of that street.
The CodeRED systemwould place three calls to a provided telephone while seeking to contact a resident and is capable of leaving a message on an answering machine.
Information that is provided by residents for use in the CodeRED system will be used only for emergency notification purposes and not provided to other parties for other purposes, Baldanza said.