Shawano County Emergency Management is offering a new alert system for businesses and residents called CodeRED, which is a high-speed, emergency notification tool.
The county is encouraging residents to download the CodeRED app on their smart phone or sign up at the county’s website for the free service.
“They can enter in their home phone, cell phone, email address, so they can actually get a phone call, text message, or email if there’s an emergency situation in their area,” explained Natalie Easterday, the Shawano County Emergency Management Director.
You also have the choice to sign up for severe weather alerts. Easterday says no matter where you are in the county, you have the ability to be notified in the event of an emergency.
“It is geo-coded, so you want to enter in your address, and you can actually enter multiple addresses,” said Easterday. “A great example is if you live in Wittenberg, work in Shawano or vice versa, you can plug both those addresses in.”
Alerts sent out by the county will be at the county’s discretion, but it will not be used for general announcements.
“If it’s anything besides the weather, which is automated, it would be county officials either notifying the whole county based on the situation, or drawing a circle on a map. That could be something related to law enforcement, but only emergency situations that warrant notifying the public.”
This system is something never before seen in Shawano County, but neighboring counties such as Brown, Oconto, and Waupaca all use the CodeRED system.
Questions can be directed to the Shawano County Emergency Management Department by calling (715) 526-6774.