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Jim Groves handed out an elected officials guide to emergencies and disasters. He <br /> said when there is a significant disaster the 911 folks will call him in addition to dispatching <br /> responders. He said if it the situation is significant enough that the Commissioners might <br /> receive inquiries, he will give the County Manager a phone call briefing. He said Bonnie <br /> Hammersley will then reach out to interface with the Board. <br /> Jim Groves said other than outreach activities, emergency communications does not do <br /> day to day County communication business. He said Carla Banks does a great job of this with <br /> the Public Affairs office. <br /> Jim Groves said anytime the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) is activated, <br /> different aspects are activated to collect and disperse information. He said with the system is <br /> an Emergency Support Function 15 (ESF-15) that is basically public affairs and public <br /> information. He said his staff would use Carla Banks and David Hunt to interface with different <br /> public information officers around the County. <br /> He said a new system call Everbridge has just been implemented, and this is similar to <br /> Code Red, but it is much more robust. He said this system can push information out and can <br /> reach every phone number, including unlisted numbers to deliver messages. He said there is <br /> an option to opt in for weather and other alerts. He said staff is also working with Information <br /> Technology to incorporate the County personnel database so that information can be pushed <br /> out to every single employee. <br /> Jim Groves said Everbridge will allow for certain geographic areas to be selected and <br /> then only those phone numbers will be reached. He said it also integrates with the federal <br /> alert system. <br /> Jim Groves said Emergency Services has something called WebOc where situational <br /> reports are published. He asked for input on how the Board would like this information to be <br /> shared. <br /> Commissioner Price said some counties that have an app available for cell phones. <br /> She asked if this would be effective in Orange County for pushing out information. <br /> Jim Groves said WebOC is not an app, but Everbridge does have an app. He said <br /> Everbridge will also allow for impromptu conference calls to from a mobile device. <br /> Commissioner Price said she is just wondering if it might be easier to just punch an icon <br /> to get information. <br /> Jim Groves said it is a great idea if people have online access. <br /> Commissioner McKee said during the NC Association of County Commissioners <br /> (NCACC) conference there was a session for working with the media using prepared <br /> statements. He said it might be a good idea at some point to develop some set statements for <br /> media releases. He said this would help control the message and avoid an escalation of <br /> events due to poor statements by elected officials. <br /> Chair Jacobs said he thinks about this in terms of how to get messages when there is <br /> no electricity. <br /> Jim Groves said if technology fails, the fallback is PA announcements or flyers for long <br /> term events. <br /> Chair Jacobs said his experience with lack of electricity is that land lines are the only <br /> thing that keeps operating. He said this speaks to Commissioner porosin's question about the <br /> advantages of having priority access on the phone lines. <br /> Chair Jacobs said he hopes Emergency Services are using the incidents of the ice <br /> storm as a base line. <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked if this is the actual Emergency Strategic Communications <br /> Plan. <br /> Jim Groves said this is for Emergency Services use. He said the larger strategic plan <br /> should just reference the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). He said information will be <br />