Primghar, Iowa — The O’Brien County Emergency Center in Primghar is making some upgrades to its communication equipment and is also implementing a new system that will alert people of emergencies if they sign up to receive emails or text alerts.
We talked with O’Brien County Emergency Management Director Anne Koontz. She tells us that the communication equipment upgrade means all 911 calls in O’Brien County are being forwarded to Sioux County’s emergency center. Sheriff Mike Anderson says there may be some delay on calls as well as some extra radio chatter during this time. Koontz tells us about the upgrades.
She says they did receive some assistance, so not all of the funds had to come from tax dollars.
Koontz says the upgrades are going to mean a change in this week’s statewide tornado drill in O’Brien County.
But she says in some ways, having the cities set off their sirens manually is a blessing in disguise.
She says that there’s a possibility that in a time of disaster the county wouldn’t be able to set off sirens, depending on how the disaster affects the infrastructure, so it’s a good idea to test manual operation.
In addition to the phone and radio upgrades, Koontz says O’Brien County is also rolling out a new service, called O’Brien Alert, also known as the Wireless Emergency Notification system, or WENS to keep citizens informed in the event of a disaster. She says you’ll be able to get alerts on email and over your cell phone.
Incidentally, IPAWS stands for Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems.
O’Brien Alert is part of Alert Iowa, which is a statewide mass notification and emergency messaging system. The system can be used by state and local authorities to quickly disseminate emergency information to residents in counties that utilize the system. The system is available, free of charge, to all counties. More than 80 percent of Iowa’s counties have now signed up to use the Alert Iowa system.
Alert Iowa will allow citizens to sign up for the types of alerts they would like to receive. Messages can be issued via land line or wireless phone, text messaging, email, FAX, TDD/TYY, and social media. Messages may contain photo, video and audio attachments to help subscribers better understand the situation at hand, or where to find additional information.
You can sign up at entry.inspironlogistics.com/obrien_ia/wens.cfm
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