Emergency resource

Sullivan County to use Facebook Local Alerts tool

By ANNEMARIE SCHUETZ
Posted 12/23/20

MONTICELLO, NY — When a child goes missing, Amber Alerts kick in. But what about a missing adult, an active shooter, or a flash flood warning? 

We rely on police and sheriff’s …

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Emergency resource

Sullivan County to use Facebook Local Alerts tool

Posted

MONTICELLO, NY — When a child goes missing, Amber Alerts kick in. But what about a missing adult, an active shooter, or a flash flood warning? 

We rely on police and sheriff’s department alert systems, local media, social networks and Facebook pages. 

Soon, Sullivan County will be using Facebook Local Alerts, a tool by the social media company that allows governments and first responders to keep people updated on a critical or an evolving situation. 

According to Facebook, you must be following a municipal page to receive the alerts. 

In a rural county like Sullivan where a small population is spread over a wide area, it can be hard to receive emergency information in a timely manner. 

“Currently our only local alert ability is on our public health page,” said county director of communications Dan Hust at last week’s executive committee meeting. 

According to a Facebook blog post from March, “when authorities mark posts as local alerts, we greatly amplify their reach so that people living in an affected community are much more likely to see them.”

Hust said that posted information would come from first responders and public health, and is then passed on as a Facebook Local Alert. “This does not replace other alerts.” Alerts are to be used sparingly and only by those authorized to issue them.

“It’s amazing that we’ll be able to inform [people] this way,” said legislator Luis Alvarez. For example, time can make all the difference when an elderly adult leaves home and walks out into a snowstorm.

“That’s what we envisioned with it,” said Hust. “It will reach out to anyone with a Facebook account who is in Sullivan County at that particular time, at no cost.” 

The county legislature approved the Facebook Local Alerts policy, the first step in putting the system together, on Thursday, December 17 with a vote of 8-0.

For more about this Facebook initiative, visit www.facebook.com/gpa/blog/expanding-local-alerts.

Facebook, local, alerts, Sullivan County,

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