As we all know, emergency preparedness and response is one of the most – if not the most – critical functions of County government.

Whether it’s a wildfire, an earthquake, the bird flu, or locating missing children or those with Alzheimer’s, getting information to the public quickly is vital to the protection of you and your family.

Until recently, the County had in place a Reverse 911 system, which allowed us to place just over 11,000 calls per hour to home phones.

Today, however, there are newer, more advanced technologies on the market that allow for a dramatically higher number of people to be reached in a much quicker fashion.

On July 24, 2007, the Board of Supervisors,under the leadership of Chairman Roberts and Vice-Chairman Cox, selected 21st Century Communications to provide our region with a new state-of-the-art public notification system.

This new system can place upwards of 400,000 calls per hour – and not just to home phones; this new system is capable of calling cell phones as well. What’s more, it is also able to send out e-mail and text messages. But the best news yet, this new system costs substantially less than the older Reverse 9-1-1 system.

To sign up, please visit www.alertsandiego.com.

For more information about this system, please contact Jason Farran at (619) 531-5544.