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In case of emergency
Solano County, CA able to alert residents if disaster strikes

When disaster strikes in Solano County, emergency officials can contact residents immediately with crucial emergency information.

Thanks to CityWatch, a telephone notification system, the Solano County Office of Emergency Services can provide information to thousands of people in just a few minutes, Solano County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Paula Toynbee said.

Also known generically as reverse 9-1-1, the system was used extensively this past week to notify Southern California residents they needed to evacuate their homes during the devastating wildfires in seven counties.

Solano's Office of Emergency Services has 48 lines set up for CityWatch, and based on a 30-second message, can make 3,000 to 5,000 phone calls in an hour, said Kevin Ives, an Office of Emergency Services technician.

CityWatch is useful if a natural disaster hits, like massive floods, wild fires or an earthquake, but the system also is used for other functions, Toynbee said.

CityWatch has been used in Solano County to find a missing person and to locate suspects sought by police, Toynbee said.

"We have the ability to use CityWatch on a city, a street, or we can map on a computer to call a specific geographic area," Toynbee said.

Solano County installed the system about 10 years ago, and the last major disaster that required its use were the floods in the winter of 2005, Toynbee said.

The phone system has the ability to call all resident and business land lines, but Solano County's phone number database does include cell phone numbers, Ives said.

CityWatch does have the capability of contacting cell phone numbers, if the city requests that function. But Ives said there's a problem with accuracy when calling cell phones. If the person is 50 miles away from the incident, it is not productive to be contacting them.

Currently there is research being conducted on how to send emergency messages to cell phones near a specific cell phone tower, which cover about a mile or two, but that technology is not yet available, Ives said.

As technology progresses, emergency communication also improves, and emergency services is hoping to be able to send out emergency e-mail notices in the near future.

Emergency services has teamed up with 95.3 KUIC radio station to provide emergency reports immediately throughout the county.

"We can call the radio station, give them emergency information and have it on the air within seconds," Toynbee said.

CityWatch is made by Avtex, a Minneapolis-based telecommunications equipment company, and is also used in other Bay Area cities, such as Oakland, Fremont, Alameda, Union City.

School District is using CityWatch to notify Emergency Situations
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Communications at Wayzata Public Schools is stepping up to a whole new level. With the help of the powerful CityWatch, Wayzata Public Schools, with nearly 10,000 students enrolled, will be able to automatically notify thousands of parents in just a few minutes on school closings, be it a broken water main, or if necessary a critical emergency.

Steve Brantner, Communication Coordinator, Wayzata Public Schools stated, “CityWatch gives us access to some of the latest technology in a cost-effective way and that was a key consideration for us.”

“We are very pleased to add the emergency notification technology, provided by CityWatch…” added Bob Ostlund, Superintendent, Wayzata Public Schools. “It’s important to know that we can reach all our families in a matter of minutes in case of an emergency.”

CityWatch phone system activated for search
Gillette, Wyoming

Campbell County emergency officials used CityWatch to search for a missing 9-year-old, who apparently was kidnapped from her apartment building. This is the third time CityWatch had been used in the search of a missing child, said Campbell County Emergency Management Coordinator, David King. “Certain Gillette residents were notified when a girl went missing about two years ago and again when police wanted to search for a missing 8-year old boy last year, although it turned out neither was kidnapped,” King said.

The 9-year-old was found, apparently after her kidnapper released her 25 miles from where she was taken. The county received a large response from concerned residents who thought they could help. After the search was over, CityWatch was also used to inform residents that the girl had been found and to ask them to keep an eye out for the suspect and the vehicle.

Gillette coal companies bought the system for the county about four years ago to warn people of impending blasting. Now CityWatch is used for everything from meeting notices to weather alerts. “It gives us some flexibility that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” King said.

Technology Used to Return Lost Boy
Salt Lake City, Utah

A Weber County community came together this morning to make sure a lost little boy found his family. Some new technology aided in the process as well.

It was 6 a.m., one of the neighbors was backing out of their driveway when they noticed a three-year-old boy on the sidewalk, crying. It was dark out and the little boy was wearing pajamas and socks, no shoes and no coat. The little boy didn’t know his parents’ names, so the family called 9-1-1.

Weber County Sheriff’s office decided to use their innovative CityWatch technology. They narrowed down the neighborhood they were interested in, highlight it on a computer, and create a computer-automated phone message regarding the lost boy and sent the message out to every person in that radius.

Within one hour the system sent out almost 1200 phone messages. People started showing up to help this little boy, and soon the boy’s grandma woke up. She’d been watching her grandson and noticed he was gone.

Lt. Terry Thompson, Weber County Sheriff’s Office: “When she woke up at 9:00, she found out he was missing and concerned and called us. We were glad to take him back to her. He was in good shape, good health, and good spirits.” Within three hours the family was reunited. It turned out the boy was only six homes away from where he started.

North Dakota School District Purchases CityWatch
Belcourt, North Dakota

Paula Keplin, Data Coordinator of Belcourt ND Turtle Mountain Community Schools, notes “CityWatch provides backup for remote capability should winter storms require cancellations. Blizzard conditions, no travel, can shut down our local media, radio stations, etc.

“We will utilize CityWatch for special notifications such as for honor students, banquets, any necessary emergency announcements to parents, letting them know if there is a bomb threat, any emergency, so parents know what’s going on with their children.”