July 26, 2019 11:30 a.m.
Officials with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office are offering details on the Citizen Emergency Notification System.
Sergeant Brad O’Dell said emergencies happen with little or no notice at any time of the day or night. The system can be used to notify the public with important information during an emergency. With CENS, critical information can be relayed to residents regarding natural disasters or emergencies that require immediate attention.
O’Dell said DCSO currently receives all landline phone numbers from the local phone companies. Those numbers are automatically enrolled and will receive alerts based on their home address. People who only have cellular phones, voice over internet protocol phones, or want to register additional phones, must opt-in to register those phones.
O’Dell said in the event of an emergency, Douglas County officials can identify the affected area and send a message that describes the situation and recommends the protective actions that residents should take. The CENS will automatically call out to all land-line and opt-in telephone numbers within that geographic area, and deliver the recorded message once a voice is heard. If the phone line is busy, the system will attempt to redial the number 3 times to make contact. If an answering machine picks up the call, the emergency message will be left on the machine.
O’Dell said some of the many uses of the system include:
*Tsunami Warnings
*Emergency Evacuations
*Natural Disaster Alerts
*Missing Child Alerts
*Hazardous Materials Leaks
*Neighborhood Emergency Incidents
To opt-in a phone, go to www.dcso.com/alerts/default.asp.