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HARTINGTON – The county’s first responders will be able to use an app-based paging system with a purchase approved by the Cedar County Board of Commissioners at its last meeting. At the recommendation of Kevin Garvin, the county's emergency manager, the I Am Responding system will be purchased and utilized on a countywide basis for $3,976 annually. "Every fire and EMS department countywide . . . this would cover all of them," Garvin said. He started looking into alternatives after the free communications system started getting overrun by viruses and spam. "We're at a crossroads now that pretty soon we're not going to be able to do what we do now," he said. "They're actually shutting the service o." While he's very confident the new app-based system will work smoothly, there will still need to be backup systems in place, Garvin said. "The problem I face, the new generation prefers to carry a cellphone but the industry standard says we can't do that as the only source. You still have to have a paging system under our direct maintenance and control," he said. Cellphone coverage can be lost if a service provider loses power. Sometimes the providers' backup generation isn't available or capable of handling the load especially during the high demand times of an emergency. "I still tell everybody to carry their pagers but not everyone heeds that advice," Garvin said. The I Am Responding app includes some enhancements not previously used including maps and the ability to input medical data for EMS calls. The new app-based system will be paid through the county's 911 fund, and the commissioners agreed to utilize the service for three years and then re-evaluate. Along with first responders getting timely alerts, there is also a need for a system to push notifications out to the general public during emergency situations, Garvin said. The commissioners have previously discussed the idea of a mass public notification system but dismissed it. Garvin decided to bring it up for a topic of discussion again in the wake of flooding along the Missouri River in the South Sioux City area this summer. "There was a lot of public outcry wanting this (mass notifications)," Garvin said. "It seems to be the gold standard now that people are expecting. As technology advances, is the public going to demand this? Are we going to be in a bad legal position for not having it?" The Federal Emergency Management Agency is not requiring a public notification system but Garvin expects they could do just that in the future. Along with natural disasters, the county could use the notification system to alert the public about roads being closed, the courthouse closed or law enforcement issues. He said some municipalities, including Laurel and Wynot, are considering something similar and may be interested in forming an interlocal agreement to utilize the same service and save on costs. "There would be benefits to this system that would not be countywide and various political subdivisions could benefit from it and use it for their purposes," said County Attorney Ron Temple.
Just as with the first responder paging system, if cellphone service goes down during an emergency, there would be no way to send a mass notification. Depending on the event, it might not be that usable, said Commissioner Dick Donner. "Whether they're successful or not, the criticism is going to be monumental when we have loss of life or property because we didn't spend $10,000 every year. . . . I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that criticism," Temple said. Another hurdle would be getting people to sign up to receive notifications, Donner said. Garvin said a media campaign would be necessary to inform and educate county residents about the mass notification system and how to sign up. No decision was made at last week's meeting but Garvin was encouraged to move forward in studying vendor options and talk to other municipalities to gauge further interest.
