(The following is a news release from the Scott County Sheriff's Office.)

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office has contracted with Emergency Communications Network (ECN) to license its CodeRED high-speed notification solution. The CodeRED system provides city and county officials the ability to quickly deliver messages via telephone, text, or e-mail to targeted areas—or an entire city or county.

There are several types of situations which could lead to a notification from CodeRED, including missing kids or vulnerable adults, evacuations, imminent threats to public safety or health, wildfires, road closures, utility outages, water main breaks, tornados, flash floods, or thunderstorm warnings.

Chris Weldon, emergency management director for Scott County, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone number database supporting them.

"If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called," he said.

One of the reasons the CodeRED system was selected is that it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly into the system's database, which is an extremely important feature.

“No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included,” Weldon said.

He urges all individuals and businesses to log onto Scott County’s website and look for the CodeRED logo. People who want to register their phone number(s) for this service will need to click on the logo.

Those without internet access may call Chris Weldon at 952-496-8381, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.to supply their information over the phone. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, and primary phone number; additional phone numbers can be entered as well.

All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, those who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number.

"CodeRED allows geographically-based delivery, which means street addresses are required to ensure emergency notification calls are received by the proper individuals in a given situation. The system works for cell phones too, but we need to have an associated street address within Scott County to provide relevant messages," Weldon explained.

CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for inputting information. The data collected will be used only for emergency notification purposes. Questions should be directed to the Emergency Management Office at 952-496-8381; more information can be obtained about CodeRED and ECN at www.ecnetwork.com.