The City of Staunton announced last week the inauguration of the Everbridge system for citizen alerts. This new system will communicate with thousands of businesses and residents in the event of an emergency. Everbridge is an interactive communication and mass notification platform that helps organizations save lives, manage critical activities and improve the efficiency of daily operations.
With the Everbridge system, Staunton will be able to alert residents about severe weather, toxic environmental issues and in process violent crimes. Messages can be sent to individuals using a variety of contact mechanisms– cell phone, landline, email, text messaging, fax, pager, and more – ensuring that residents and city staff receive life-saving emergency information and important public service announcements in minutes. In addition, the City plans to use the Everbridge system to notify residents about other important activities, such as street closures and water utility maintenance.
“We have a commitment to protect our citizens from any danger that threatens our community. The ability to reach all residents quickly during an emergency in order to warn them and provide guidance is critical to upholding that commitment, which is why we selected the Everbridge system,” said Scott Garber, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator. “The Everbridge mass notification and interactive communication system ensures the City will be able to react quickly and efficiently to reach each individual in the case of an emergency.”
Citizens can register for emergency alerts, by visiting www.staunton.va.us and click on the Citizen Alert Button at the bottom of the landing page.
If a citizen does not have access to a computer, two walk-in help centers will be provided by the City on Friday, December 21, Wednesday, December 26, Thursday, December 27, and Friday, December 28 between 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.– 8:00 p.m. at the Staunton Public Library and the Booker T Washington Community Center.
City staff will be on hand to assist citizens in registering for the service. This will take five minutes of time to complete with our data entry staff. No appointment is necessary. If individual transportation limitations create a barrier to accessing the help centers, please call the Staunton Fire & Rescue Department at 540-332-3884. The SFRD trained staff will take the contact information over the phone.
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