WEST CHESTER — The Chester County Department of Emergency Services (CCDES) announced Monday the upgrade of its mass emergency notification system. The upgrade includes a new identification, ReadyChesCo, which replaces the existing ReadyNotify brand.
ReadyChesCo incorporates greater technological capabilities and flexibility. All Chester County residents, businesses and organizations are encouraged to register immediately at www.readychesco.org to receive emergency alerts.
“Our residents’ safety is our top concern,” said Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Terence Farrell. “ReadyChesCo is used to notify all subscribers before and during a major emergency, and will deliver important alerts that are selected to be received by residents, such as weather, health or community notifications.”
“The mass notification system allows our Department of Emergency Services to contact thousands of residents and businesses in seconds, when seconds matter,” added Commissioner Kathi Cozzone. “Subscribers can opt in and opt out at any time for the types of alerts they want, but they must register to receive them.”
ReadyChesCo’s flexibility means residents can choose to receive information ranging from severe weather information to road closures, and can also note any special needs information that is useful to emergency responders. Specific municipality information – notifications and news for residents’ local communities – can also be requested by individuals.
“One advantage of ReadyChesCo is the option of adding one or more ways to receive an alert,” said Commissioner Michelle Kichline. “By adding different contact methods to a registration, the emergency message will be sent to all of them in the pre-selected order. If residents wish to receive a text message first, it will be delivered. If the message is not confirmed as received, ReadyChesCo will move on to the second choice for delivery, and so on – be it email, home phone or work phone.”
Bottom line, officials said, its about making sure county residents know what they need to know in the event of an emergency.
“We are committed to ensuring public safety, community awareness and emergency response,” said Robert Kagel, Director of the Chester County Department of Emergency Services. “To uphold this, when critical information and public service announcements are available, we need to reach our residents as quickly and reliably as possible.”
Subscribers to Chester County’s previous notification system, ReadyNotifyPA, will be instructed to register on ReadyChesCo by visiting www.readychesco.org.
“The success of the ReadyChesCo program relies on having the latest contact information so that we can ensure county residents receive crucial information in an emergency,” added Kagel.
For more information on ReadyChesCo go to www.chesco.org/des.
