Shereen Oca
Grunion Gazette, Long Beach, Calif.

Feb. 13--The Long Beach Firefighters recently acquired a text-messaging alert-system that will enhance their communications in the event of a natural catastrophe or emergency.

During such disasters as an earthquake or a terrorist attack, phone systems can become overloaded and communications could go down as a result, according to Rex Pritchard, vice president of Long Beach Firefighters.

And while the Long Beach Fire Department can use radios to contact personnel within the city, the radios do not have the capability to reach firefighters outside of it, Pritchard said.

The Long Beach Firefighters will work with the city and the LBFD in emergency situations, he continued, and the new program will allow them to enter an urgent message and broadcast it to the entire organization's membership, the total of which exceeds 400 firefighters.

"We have this system in place and we can send out texts with information in regards to coming back to the city, reporting to the station and situational updates," Pritchard said. "It's just something that I think might make the citizens feel better knowing that it is in place."

The firefighters association purchased the system from UnionCentrics -- a web-design firm for union firefighters -- last week. Minor tests have been administered, and the system, so far, has performed outstandingly well, Pritchard said.

"It's very effective," he added. "...The great thing is the ability to touch hundreds of people in less than a minute, getting out vital information rather than trying to make phone calls."

The Long Beach Firefighters paid for this text-message alert-program, which sends information to firefighters' personal cell phones.

Over the next month, the organization will update member profiles with cell phone numbers and carriers.

"Long Beach Firefighters are always looking to improve our ability to protect the citizens (and) guests of Long Beach," said association President Rich Brandt in a press release. "...When the inevitable occurs, we now have the ability to communicate information ... to protect the critical infrastructure and the lives (and) property of the citizens we serve."

For more information about the Long Beach Firefighters or their new text-messaging system, call 989-3667 or visit www.lbff.org.

---

To see more of the Grunion Gazette or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazettes.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Grunion Gazette, Long Beach, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Copyright 2009
Grunion Gazette (Long Beach, California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News