Sign up for emergency alerts in Douglas County
By Carin R. Kirkegaard
When emergencies happen, communicating fast, reliable information can be vital in saving lives, solving crimes and mitigating damage. Residents in Douglas County can register for CodeRED alerts from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and all other Douglas County agencies. This system allows for mass notifications to areas where emergencies are occurring.
Recently, residents already registered with CodeRED who live within the Castle Pines North Metro Water District were alerted via prerecorded phone messages, texts and email of a boil water notice. Once the Water Quality Control Division was able to test the water and determine there was no contamination, another CodeRED alert was issued notifying the “all clear” to registered residents.
CodeRED is a high-speed telephone emergency notification system that allows public safety personnel to send messages directly to residents – whether they are home or away – during an emergency. It uses geotracking to target specific areas with prerecorded phone messages, emails or texts.
The system not only notifies citizens of municipal advisories, it more commonly in Colorado provides notifications of evacuations for wildfires, as well as notifications when there is police activity in an area, bio-terrorism alerts, missing child reports and other emergencies. Essentially, any time there is an urgent public safety message, officials will send an alert to notify citizens of emergency details, instructions or precautions that will aid citizens in making well-informed decisions to remain safe.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to sign up to receive CodeRED notifications. Visit www.douglascountycodered.com and follow the instructions, or text DRCC to 99411 to receive a direct link to the enrollment form on a mobile device. Users will create a managed account that allows access to modify notification settings and contact information, as well as customize the types of notifications received and to add additional addresses to monitor.
