Public Alerting System Problems Addressed

by Jonathan Weaver

Armstrong Public Safety Director Randy Brozenick and 9-1-1 Coordinator Ron Baustert assured the public that requests to sign up for the public emergency notification system have been successful.

County Commissioner Chair Pat Fabian and Vice-Chair Jason Renshaw asked for clarification after hearing concerns the system does not work, but Baustert and Brozenick both said the problem has been corrected.

Baustert said more than 500 residents have registered for alerts via cell phone and/or e-mail in the past three weeks.

“Occassionally, it will kick back to your email address and say you’re not registered. However, you are registered,” Baustert said. “Every single time we’ve gone, (residents) are already in the database.”

Brozenick said that computer training was recently completed to most of the 20 emergency personnel.

“We went through training which teaches us how to go onto a map and how to identify an area where we need to get that notification out,” Brozenick said. “We can notify five to 500 people if we needed to – it’s a pretty-extensive system.”

Baustert said policies will help the emergency notification go out quicker without needing his or Brozenick’s oversight.

“A lot of times, it’s such an emergency that you don’t want to wait,” Baustert said. “If we have a jail break and it’s three in the morning, don’t waste time. Get (the notification) out there.”

Emergency management officials are also considering testing the alert system in a neighborhood.

Baustert added the system might have been used April 1 when Randall Eckman, Jr. ran from police in North Buffalo Township and caused an hour-long manhunt, but training was completed less than 24 hours before the incident and policies were not in-place to inform staff when to activate the system.

The emergency notification system will also be able to alert residents of weather dangers imminent.

Residents with a landline telephone are already registered for the emergency notification system.

It is also ‘National Public Safety Tele-communicators Week’ in Armstrong County in honor of local dispatchers.