SASKATOON – Saskatoon’s most recent test of its mass emergency notification system was a success based on feedback from residents and system-generated data. The city’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) exercised notifynow by sending out test messages to the entire database on Tuesday morning.
The test showed notifynow was able to reach 117,431 contacts in about an hour.
“This means that if the EMO was instructed to issue a notifynow message to 1,600 homes in a specific neighbourhood, a message telling residents what to do, where to go, and what to expect could be delivered in approximately three minutes,” said Deb Davies, emergency measures coordinator.
READ MORE: Continued urge for residents to register for NotifyNOW
EMO, through the notifynow system, can send timely safety information to residents within an affected area about impending, escalating, or even immediately occurring emergency situations in Saskatoon.
The purpose of testing the system is to familiarize people with it and to measure the accuracy of the resident database.
Notifynow is tested twice yearly and this was the four time it had been tested.
People can customize how they receive messages such as by email, phone, or text message as well as the locations that directly affect them. For more information and to sign-up for notifynow, visit the city’s website.
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