Schools get early warning radios from LEPC

Published 12:55 am Sunday, September 22, 2013

Other agencies included for National Preparedness Month

 

“Be prepared” may be the Boy Scout motto, but the Lawrence County Local Emergency Planning Commission is making an effort to ensure as many people as possible can be alerted when danger strikes.

September is National Preparedness Month and, this year, the LEPC has donated emergency alert radios to each school building in the county, as well as all nursing homes, day cares, Head Start programs and government buildings.

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“It’s important to remember that severe weather and other types of emergencies can occur at any time of the day or night,” Mike Boster, chair of the LEPC, said. “With this in mind, the LEPC wanted to complete a project that would have a positive safety impact on our most vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes, schools, special needs facilities and other places that serve larger groups of the public. Early warning helps those facility leaders to move people to safety before the emergency event can harm them.”

Boster said the Alert Works EAR-10 devices broadcast the NOAA Weather alerts as well as other types of emergencies heard and seen across the Emergency Alert System, including chemical spills, Amber alerts and civil emergencies.

“The emergency alert radios have an automatic alert feature, sounding a 90 decibel alert siren, and will also indicate whether the alert is a watch, warning or a statement,” Boster said. “These particular models are also equipped with battery back-up so the device will stay on even during a power outage.”

Dean Nance, superintendent of Ironton City Schools, expressed his appreciation to the LEPC for the radios.

“We are very appreciative of the LEPC, that everything they do for us and with us, is in partnership to keep Lawrence County as safe as possible,” Nance said. “This is another tool to make schools aware of emergency situations.”

Boster said the radios would be distributed throughout the county in the coming weeks. He said homeowners and businesses interested in the radios can purchase them from a variety of sources.