AMESBURY — More than a year after the Seabrook Station siren falsely sounded late one night in July 2007 and caused mass confusion, Amesbury has launched a cutting-edge system to alert residents of emergencies and how to react.
Code Red is officially ready, with residents now able to sign up online to receive telephone notification in case of an emergency in town.
"We won't be using this for school closing," said Don Swenson, director of emergency management. "This is strictly for town emergencies, such as water contamination, major flooding or siren activity from Seabrook."
Though the system has been tested only among emergency personnel, Swenson said a townwide test could be forthcoming.
Code Red allows the city to call every resident in town or just affected areas in case immediate emergency response is needed.
"You can do so many options," Swenson said. "Let's say there was an emergency downtown, we can draw an area downtown and launch calls only to the residents outlined on the map."
In July 2007, a warning siren on Newton Road malfunctioned and began wailing, causing confusion and concern among residents in that neighborhood.
Callers flooded Amesbury's 911 dispatch center questioning what was happening. Residents wondered whether they needed to immediately evacuate the area and turned to the radio, which didn't broadcast any information, causing further worry.
In the days after the scare, town, state and nuclear power plant officials acknowledged changes had to be made to the way such situations are handled.
One of those changes can be found in the new 2008 calendar, issued by Seabrook Station to its neighbors. The calendar includes emergency preparedness information and guidelines to follow in the event that an emergency does occur at the plant.
The new calendar informs residents to call their local public officials — and the numbers are provided — if they do not get an update and are looking for information about why a siren is sounding. It also urges them not to dial 911 to report an accidental alarm.
An emergency alert system radio station will broadcast an update only in the event of a true emergency. But Peter Judge, spokesman for Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, has said that the state will now also notify regular media outlets in the event of a non-emergency.
The town instituted Code Red over the past year after receiving a grant for $7,500 for the first year of service. Though unclear how the town will fund the system after this year, Mayor Thatcher Kezer said it will continue.
"We will make it an ongoing system for the city," Kezer said. "It will end up becoming part of the budget if we can't find grant money. We will split the cost between (the five) departments using it."
The latest institution of Code Red aims to further clarify emergency and non-emergency situations for Amesbury residents.
"This is really cutting edge," Kezer said. "It's a tool we badly needed, illustrated a year ago when the Seabrook alarm went off. If we had this system, it would have allowed us to get information out to calm people and, secondly, to allow 911 use for real emergencies, which may have occurred at the same time."
Judge estimates only one to two dozen cities and towns statewide are currently using Code Red. Already included in the system are phone numbers listed in the telephone book. Residents with unpublished phone numbers or those wanting to have emergency calls go to a number other than their home phone may enter their contact information into the database online on the town's Web site.
In addition to having Code Red call home numbers, residents can set the system to call their cell phones or other contact numbers. The system is also able to send text messages.
"You can put in your house phone and cell phone, and it will call both," Swenson said. "It tries three times and leaves a message on the answering machine. It's a unique system, and it works well."
Swenson predicts that possible scenarios in which Code Red would be used include water conditions, floods, fires, dam breaks, Amber Alerts and evacuation notices.
"The message will be very direct in my voice and words," Swenson said, noting the message will include evacuation or shelter information. "There are five departments able to use Code Red: the police, fire, emergency management, Department of Public Works and the mayor's office."
A concern of Amesbury Emergency Management is keeping Code Red at the forefront of emergency response. The system will only be utilized in dire emergencies and will not be used for school closings.
"We don't want a system where people are like, 'Oh, not this again,'" Swenson said. "That's why keying this to specific emergencies is important."
Swenson said the system will only be used in very specific snow emergencies and not used just to alert residents to move their cars off the roads.
"We want to pick exactly when to use it," Swenson said. "It's actually one of the better things the town has ever done."
For more information or to add contact information to Code Red, log on to the town's Web site www.Amesburyma.gov.
Or call Swenson at 978-388-8155 if you don't have access to a computer.
