Friday, October 11, 2013

Flash Alert Newswire

We are very fortunate here in the Portland Metro area to have an easy way to disseminate emergency news information to our local news media.

Flash Alert News (http://www.flashalert.net/) allows public safety agencies to distribute their press releases and short emergency messages through a very simple online interface.  This system is used by emergency services providers, schools, transportation, governments and healthcare facilities to easily ensure that their information gets to all of the news media providers at once.  

Residents of our local communities then, can choose which agencies to follow and receive those same press alerts directly.  You choose the specific agency and then, you input your email address.  You can also choose whether to follow all news or just the emergency alerts from that agency.

Additionally, you can receive text messages to a mobile phone.  And, at any time, you can turn your notifications off by simply managing your account.

Today, Flash Alert News has been testing their notification systems so, if you are signed up, you likely already received an email that simply said "This is a test."

If you are looking to follow CRESA's information, you'll find us under "Police & Fire Agencies" in the Flash Alert System.
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This is just one of several ways that we share emergency information with our community.

CRESA also uses....


  • Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) which will ping mobile phones with an emergency message if activated. Types of alerts to expect are Amber Alerts, Weather and all-county type emergency response.  
  • Emergency Community Notification System (ECNS) which is a targeted out-dial phone-based system which will send a very targeted message to a small radius in the event of 3 key messages (Evacuate, Shelter-in-Place, and Help Find a Missing Person).  The catch of this system is that it uses only landline phone numbers.   
If you have a CELL PHONE or VOIP Phone, 
please enter your phone number and address 
into our database by visiting the following webpage:


And, as always, if you have any questions about any of our information-sharing systems, please don't hesitate to ask us.  We're also super excited to help our community know how they can receive pertinent information during emergencies.  

We also have active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter (@CRESA and @CRESATalk for our emergency and all-things preparedness accounts) where we regularly share information with our community.  

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