COLUMBUS – Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security (FCEM&HS) and The Ohio State University are joining together to better inform the public and enhance safety by integrating the Buckeye Alert System and ALERT Franklin County.
Through this collaboration, citizens that previously could not sign up to receive Buckeye Alerts now have the option to receive Ohio State's emergency notifications via ALERT Franklin County.
"We are thrilled to be working with The Ohio State University to expand our emergency notifications and warnings," said Jeffrey J. Young, Director, Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland Security.
ALERT Franklin County is a county-wide mass notification and warning system used to warn residents about emergencies and community news in jurisdictions throughout Franklin County. The system is customizable and allows residents to choose the alerts they want to receive and how they want to receive them.
“We are pleased that our emergency notifications will be accessible to more people in Central Ohio,” said Robert Armstrong, Ohio State’s Director of Emergency Management and Fire Prevention. “The safety of our campus community, patients and visitors is our top priority and we recognize the nearby community may be impacted by events that occur at Ohio State.”
The Buckeye Alert System is an emergency notification system used by Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety when it is determined that its campus community needs to take immediate action to remain safe. Alerts are often sent via text message and signing up is mostly limited to the university’s students, faculty and staff.
"This integration is a great example of how our two entities can join together to help keep the campus community as well as residents, businesses and visitors connecting with the university informed of personal safety information," Young said.
Citizens can elect to receive Buckeye Alerts when selecting their alert subscriptions after registering in ALERT Franklin County at alertfranklincounty.org. Citizens who are already registered and would like to receive Buckeye Alerts can do so by updating their subscription selections in their profile.
###