Emergency Notification Systems

Notification Systems

The City of Escondido uses a number of different notification systems in order to provide the community with important information about a range of subjects, from urgent emergency situations to local events or developments of interest. The following describes the different types of notifications. Depending on the Emergency, the City may incorporate multiple communications methods to reach as many residents and businesses as possible.

City Website

During an emergency, the City's website will display an "emergency notification banner" on the website's main page describing the emergency and directions for residents.

Social Media

Emergency information will be provided through the City's Facebook account. Additional information will be posted to the Escondido Fire's Facebook page as time permits.

Door-to-Door Notifications

For fast moving emergencies, such as wildland fires, police officers and other volunteers may go door-to-door to notify residence to evacuate or to provide additional response information. This will be followed with one or more of the electronic notifications listed below.

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

In some emergencies, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a viable means of communication. EAS is the system that you hear on the radio or TV. While the information will go to most radio and TV stations in San Diego County, KOGO AM 600 and KLSD AM 1360 have dedicated backup systems in the event of a major disaster and can forward the information to all radio and television stations across the county. Emergency Alerts can be heard anywhere within the county with a handheld AM/FM radio or your car's AM radio. Because of system limitations there are many circumstances where EAS may not be appropriate to use for notifying the public. In that case, one of the follow notification systems will be used for emergency notification.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) / Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) can be utilized to quickly disseminate emergency alerts to mobile devices. WEA messages are Intentionally short and should direct residents to take a specific action: evacuate, shelter in place, monitor the news are additional information, etc.

Per the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines, the following criteria should be met to warrant a WEA message:

  • Urgency: The event urgency must be classified as either immediate, requiring immediate responsive action, or expected, requiring responsive action within one hour.
  • Severity: The severity of the event must be classified as either extreme, posing an extraordinary threat to life of property, or severe, posing a significant threat to life or property.
  • Certainty: The certainty of the event must be classified as either observed (i.e., determined to have occurred or to be ongoing) or likely (i.e., determined to have a probability of occurrence of 50% or greater).

Community Emergency Notification System (CENS)

In 2006, the County of San Diego implemented the AlertSanDiego communications system. AlertSanDiego is currently available throughout the County. All listed and unlisted landline phone numbers are already included in the AlertSanDiego database and residents can register their cell phone, VoIP phone number and email addresses.

AlertSanDiego enables emergency dispatchers to call residents, via a reverse 911 callout system, and alert them to emergency actions which may need to be taken. AlertSanDiego combines GIS mapping technologies with 911 calling data in an easy-to-use interface.

AlertSanDiego is also available in accessible formats. Accessible AlertSanDiego provides emergency management the capability of alerting and informing residents of San Diego County who are deaf, blind, hard of hearing, and deaf/blind before, during, and after a disaster. Accessible AlertSanDiego sends accessible alerts and information to internet and video capable devices, such as computers, cell phones, smart phones, tablet computers, and wireless Braille readers. These alerts are offered in American Sign Language (ASL) with English voice and text.

The AlertSanDiego system, which is hosted by Blackboard Connect, has the capability of making thousands of calls per hour by using automated calling technology. OES, City of Escondido or the Sheriff's Communications Center can activate AlertSanDiego.

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