Town To Conduct General CodeRED Test On January 12

The town plans to conduct a general test of its telephone-based CodeRED emergency notification system on Wednesday, January 12, in which all members of the community with telephone numbers listed in the system’s database will be called with a test message.

The recorded, automated telephone calls will be made between 2 and 4 pm and will continue being made until calls have been placed to the entire telephone number database.

The general test will provide local emergency management personnel with an opportunity to operate the CodeRED system as if there had been a communitywide disaster.

In the past, the notification system has been used to place targeted calls to specific geographic areas to alert residents of public safety problems in their areas.

The telephone test message that will be transmitted during the general test directs recipients to the Town of Newtown website to add additional telephone contact numbers to the town’s database, and also asks that recipients to tell family, friends, and neighbors about the CodeRED system.

Emergency Management Director Bill Halstead, Health Director Donna Culbert, and Director of Emergency Communications Maureen Will, suggest that “all individuals and businesses should take the time to visit the town website and add contact information to include cellular phones and other nontraditional phones, as well as e-mail and text addresses.”

“If your contact information is not in the database, you will not receive a call when an urgent message is sent,” they said in a statement.

Those who should register for the notification system include: businesses; individuals who have unlisted phone numbers; people who have changed their phone number recently; and individuals who use a cellular phone exclusively or who have VoIP phones (such as Vonage) as their primary numbers, according to town officials.

Chief Halstead urges citizens to log onto the Town of Newtown website at www.newtown-ct.gov and follow the CodeRED hyperlink on the left side of the webpage.

People without Internet access may call the fire marshal’s office at 203-270-4370 or Ms Will at 203-270-4296 on Mondays through Fridays from 9 am to 3 pm to register.

Required information for registration includes a street address. A physical address is necessary, not a post office box. A primary phone number also is required.

Additional phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and text addresses may also be entered.

Callers are asked to leave pertinent information for registration on the notification system’s answering machine in the event that no person is able to take the phone call at the time that it is placed by the person seeking to register.

The town’s emergency management team uses the CodeRED system judiciously to keep the citizens informed during times of emergency.

More information about the CodeRED system is available on the town website. Questions should be directed to the fire marshal’s office at 203-270-4370 or Ms Will at 203-270-4296.