It's summer, and we're already seeing the temperatures on the rise throughout Texas. When it comes to enjoying all the fun outdoor activities in Montgomery County, we here at the Montgomery County Emergency Communication District want to ensure that all residents have a fun and safe season. Use our summer safety tips to keep cool.
When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, people swarmed around radios to catch every detail for hours into the night. When the twin towers fell in New York City on 9-11, more people knew about what happened or literally watched it occur via television than through any other medium within minutes of the first plane hitting. Some 17+ years later, we know instantly there is something wrong through multiple digital connections that we practically carry in our pockets wherever we happen to be. Our technology shift is moving from hours to minutes to moments in how fast emergency response noticing occurs today.
Smart911 is a significant jump forward when it comes to consumer awareness of emergencies and how to seek help. Municipalities are able to use the system to provide expanded information to citizens as well as responding agencies, increasing response capability and informing people better how to avoid or reduce their risk in an event.
In World War II, urban citizens in London, England, learned about impending harm from German bombs when air sirens went off in major city neighborhoods. During the 1960s and 1970s, the radio and TV alert signal became synonymous with an emergency notice as its irritating blurt woke us up to pay attention wherever we were. Today, local emergency alerts become personal, reaching us through our digital devices wherever we happen to be, if we choose to be connected. And it makes a huge difference, sometimes even in life and death.
There is no question that just about every region at some point realizes disaster and danger. Whether you’re in the mountains or near the ocean or by a river or in the desert, some kind of risk occurs eventually. It’s simply within the portfolio of nature that natural disasters happen. Add in the what communities and people create, and the odds increase even more. So it would be foolish for any family to assume that they will always be safe 100 percent of the time. Instead, logic and smarts dictate that people should have a response plan or a family emergency plan to follow when things do go wrong.
