Weyburn is the first municipality in Saskatchewan to launch an Emergency Alert Program, which enables city officials to communicate with residents and businesses, within minutes, during an emergency situation.
Fire Chief Steve Debienne is urging residents to 'opt in' to the system as soon as possible, especially if they do not have a land line or do not regularly check their home phone.
The campaign's motto is, 'if we can't reach you, we can't alert you'.
The system includes multiple contact paths, such as cellular phones, home phones and email.
"With recent events, such as the flooding in Alberta, it's very important and crucial to get accurate information out to the citizens in a timely manner," said Debienne on July 2, when he and Deputy Fire Chief Sawatzky joined Mayor Button at City Hall for the official public announcement and launch.
"I'm very proud today to release the system forward," he said. "It wouldn't be possible without the City Council, the Mayor and City Manager, who are backing this venture. It shows their commitment for public safety for the citizens of Weyburn."
He noted that, since Saskatchewan does not have its own Doppler Radar unit, we don't have clear and accurate forecasting.
"So, in the event of a tornado coming into the City of Weyburn, this may be the only way that we can notify our citizens that there is something coming their way and to take cover."
Residents and businesses already listed in the 4-1-1 database, appearing in the SaskTel phone book, will be automatically subscribed to receive emergency alerts via their home or commercial phone.
"The opt-in portion is only as good as the citizens we get to opt-in," noted Chief Debienne. "You may not be home, and we are finding that a number of people don't have land lines anymore, so this allows us, through the opt-in, to give you notice in the event of an emergency."
The Everbridge system is designed to contact the individual, not just the household. Residents and businesses, even if listed, should register with further contact information such as mobile phone numbers and email addresses.
To opt-in, visit weyburn.ca and click on the Emergency Alert link, where it prompts the user to enter additional contact information.
Any and all information provided will only be used for emergency notifications. The alerts will only be sent when approved by Mayor Debra Button or City Manager Bob Smith and will never be used for spam or solicitations of any kind.
The messages will appear on residents' caller identification screens as coming from the Weyburn Fire Department.
Officials will also be able to alert residents about non-critical notices such as road closures.
"Weyburn has been through a couple of our own emergencies in the past years, one being the City of Weyburn's flood and of course, when our precautionary water advisories were issued last year," said Mayor Button. "The residents of Weyburn were very clear that they wanted a better system of us letting them know that there was an emergency situation or a precautionary situation in the community."
"As you go through real emergency situations, you find out where you are lacking, and I definitely understood loud and clear that this is one of them," she said. "I'm pleased to be here today, on behalf of Council, to support this initiative."
"I hope we never have to use it, but it's here in case we do," she added.
Debienne noted that this will be the first mass notification system for a municipality in Saskatchewan. He said that one of the greatest appeals for the system they chose, Everbridge, is that it is forward-moving, always adding ways to communicate. In fact, this fall, Twitter feeds will become an available feature for municipalities to implement.
Chief Debienne and Mayor Button both clarified that the goal of this system is to ensure that the information being sent out to the public is clear, concise, timely and that of a critical nature that the public needs to be aware - and for no other reason.
Each alert will also include a deactivation alert, once the threat has cleared.
"The key is to keep the public tied in with the officials," said Debienne.
