Area emergencies now to be updated on county website

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Recently, Putnam County 911 Director Dave Costin said that not only will the Putnam County Dispatcher organization (911) receive a new home soon, it will also begin to provide a new service.

Beginning immediately, when a county emergency is declared, the 911 organization will update the Putnam County website (http://co.putnam.in.us/) so that a red beacon appears on the website's home page with a button that links to information about the emergency.

The system's main purpose is to notify Putnam County citizens about countywide emergencies, such as snow emergencies, flood warnings, prison breaks or any other type of emergency.

In addition, the system will be used for community notices such as water boil orders.

Costin said all county citizens should first check the website before calling 911 as the plan is to update the website immediately after an emergency is declared.

The 911 organization plans on activating an example emergency notification to show Putnam County residents what the system will look like. On Friday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., the sample emergency notice will be on the website. The organization noted that if a real emergency is in effect, the sample notification will not take place.

Costin said that the system should not only help communication status and updates for the county, but it will also cut down on the number of phone calls to 911, thereby freeing 911 employees for other emergency situations. The software system was developed and donated to the county by Dave Johnson of Johnson and Johnson Associates.

Other county department information is available at the website as well.

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