An Important Message From Mayor Leclerc: East Hartford Alert Network
In emergency situations, quick, instinctual actions are the impetus for survival. As minutes and seconds click away, each and every move made is a step towards safety and security. Tested early on in my first year as Mayor, the residents of this town faced a major storm head-on in October 2011, with damaging winds, downed trees and long-term loss of power. Taking control of the situation, I activated the Emergency Operations Center and after a thorough after-action review session, realized that the dissemination of information during emergency situations was a key cog in making sure residents are prepared. Investing in Everbridge technology after the 2011 Halloween storm, we have since built and personalized our system to include a multitude of different features, allowing us to push out several different pieces of information, as well as work to improve access and usability to residents. Launched in May of 2015, our new system is known as the East Hartford Alert Network, which has been engineered by the town and Everbridge Communication Systems to provide a tailor-made user experience for every subscriber.
Collaborating with the Fire Department and their Emergency Management division over the past year, improvements have been implemented to create a user experience which allows for easy sign-up, as well as a system of customization. By visiting our website at www.EHalertCT.gov, users are brought to a page where they can sign up, enter in their best contact method, their location, their preferred types of alerts, as well as any special needs the individual may have. Using this system, residents can now receive notifications not only pertaining to emergency situations in town and their individual neighborhood, but also receive notifications on any interruptions in town services, notices on upcoming special events, as well as traffic alerts and road closures. When we issue a message about a potential safety hazard or concern, messages are sent to all standard voice and text communication devices that you have registered, including landline phones, cell phones, e-mail, and more. If you do not confirm receipt of the message, the system will then reach out to your next method of contact. The system will continue trying to contact you until it receives a confirmation from you, allowing for fail-safes, until the resident has been reached. In addition, we have also been distributing postcards, which contain a QR code for mobile phones, as well as traveling around at public events with our EH Alert trailer, which contains the same QR code, in an effort to sign up as many residents as possible.
East Hartford Alert has been one of my many initiatives. With emergency management and community safety a top priority, I was honored to be awarded with the 2015 Community Hero Resilience Award by the American Red Cross in March. While I have worked tirelessly to lead East Hartford into a new era, one person can achieve only so much without the support of others, which is why I call on all of our residents to join this important initiative. While grassroots advertising efforts are effective in growing subscription rates, word of mouth has always been the best avenue to adding as many citizens as possible for our alert system. Tell a friend, speak to a neighbor or post our URL to social media. With every subscriber we add, we gain a better informed citizen. With advances in technology, I have made it my mission to bring East Hartford into the future and EH Alert will disseminate information through a more effective means, as well as keep each individual member of this community safe and secure.