Nation's Largest County Tackles Notifications

The nation's most populated county, Los Angeles, recently launched a county-wide notification system. Called "Alert LA County", the system uses automated telephone dialing, e-mailing and text messaging.

The County purchased a database of both published and non-published telephone numbers. To supplement the databases, the County published a web site for residents to register cell phones Voice Over IP, or fax phones since there are no central databases available for these numbers.

The approach is not new, and not unique to L.A. County. Others have done the same. What's new, however, is the magnitude of the effort. Latest Census estimates show Los Angeles County with over 9.8-million residents!

Glaring questions are raised:

1. How do you fill the phone number gap when so many people now use cell or VOIP phones? Certainly, the sign-up site will help. But, what percentage of the County will actually register? Registration rates are generally not high. (Does anyone have a good registration success story?)

In a FEMA-commissioned study on the 2007 San Diego wildfires, a research team from Oak Ridge National Laboratories reported than only 10,000 of 450,000 households had signed up for the City of San Diego's emergency advisory system when the firestorm broke out. (See our blog at: http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/alerts.

2. What keeps the local telephone infrastructure from being overloaded? Even in targeted areas of such a densely populated county, the numbers of notifications attempted can be huge. The County does not promise to notify vast areas at once, and the vendor selected by the county, Twenty First Century Communications, has an impressive story of available capacity. But, even when targeting, how can you ensure that the local system is not overwhelmed, particularly during an emergency when call volumes generally go up even before notifications are issued?

You can try to get an answer from the carriers, but it's unlikely that you will. The communications infrastructure is a complex labyrinth, and highly unpredictable in an emergency. So, the real answer to the question is "you can't".

The best you can do is be realistic about what can and cannot be done, and mitigate accordingly.

All the best,

Rick