CodeRED Mobile Alert App Complements New Federal Emergency Alert System

Recently, the federal government announced the launch of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), a service designed to automatically send mobile users text alerts of dangerous weather and emergencies including missing children.

Ahead of the federal level implementation, Emergency Communications Network (ECN) launched the CodeRED Mobile Alert app for iPhone, a public safety smartphone application that delivers location-based general and emergency notifications, as well as severe weather warnings to subscribers within the direct path of a storm. In March of this year, ECN also extended the availability of the app to the Android market, to allow millions of additional users to receive critical, time-sensitive messages directly to their mobile devices.

While the WEA service provides brief texts with a maximum of 90 characters, the CodeRED Mobile Alert app provides both a Google map of the affected area of the severe weather and an audio component which allows users to listen to the message. With the mapping feature, users can view all affected areas of the alert. In addition to the regional weather alerts provided through the WEA service, citizens can subscribe to the CodeRED Mobile Alert app to receive geographically targeted severe weather warnings. The innovative design of the CodeRED Mobile Alert app only alerts those subscribers within the direct path of a storm.

“The CodeRED Mobile Alert app was designed to enhance existing public safety tools. The app can be used to complement existing mass notification systems in place at the federal, state and local level,” said David DiGiacomo, President & CEO of ECN.

Additionally, CodeRED Mobile Alert app subscribers also receive alerts for missing children, the disabled and elderly through an exclusive partnership, more than a decade long, with the Fort Lauderdale-based non-profit organization, A Child Is Missing. Alerts are location-based, allowing local officials an extra “set of eyes” to help identify and locate this vulnerable population.

ECN supports the federal government’s implementation of the WEA service as part of the ongoing effort to enhance public safety. With the critical nature of emergency notification, ECN recommends using multiple sources of information to stay informed. Citizens have an increased chance of protecting themselves and loved ones during an emergency by downloading the CodeRED Mobile Alert app, subscribing to a local or state emergency notification service, such as WEA, and tuning into local television news broadcasts.