New text alert system should be in place by DNC

DENVER - Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. That is the motto for the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership.

CEPP is launching an online effort to help citizens be a part of Colorado's emergency planning.

Its goal is to get the private sector involved in emergency preparedness and homeland security planning.

These security measures are being launched just in time for the Democratic National Convention this August.

During the DNC, the alert system would provide information in any number of situations. For example, if there are road closures as delegates or dignitaries are escorted around, or in the event that light rail is disrupted or delayed, or if protestors disrupt an area of the city.

The goal is for these to be ongoing resources.

"Unexpected events can happen during a DNC but it can also happen pretty much any other time," said Tim Gablehouse, part of the Denver InfraGard Members Alliance. "It is designed to make this community better prepared, more resilient and able to recover from anything bad that happens."

The program is set to be activated Wednesday morning.

CEPP says everyone needs to be ready for any situation that could arise, whether it is a natural disaster or a man made emergency.

"Plan for yourself, plan for your family, plan for your business. If the business next door from you burns down, you are the first responder. We can't let government handle it alone," said Pamela Pfeifer, executive director of CEPP.

CEPP is a public-private enterprise created by the Denver InfraGard Members Alliance, The Denver Police Foundation, and Business Executives for National Security and the Philanthropy Roundtable.

"Every community of this state is prone to bad things happening. We tend to get casual in our approach to our preparedness," said Gablehouse. "Individuals and business owners need to recognize first and foremost you are responsible for taking care of yourself. Emergency responders can't be everywhere at all times, especially in large scale disasters."

The new CEPP alert system is free. It allows the public to subscribe to a text or e-mail alerting system. It will proved timely information from public safety officials in the event of an emergency that impacts the Denver area.

"We will have the alerting system where we can pump out information to the general public from public safety officials it will also be a means for people in the private sector to alert us in a real time basis as to what is going on," said Pfeifer.

CEPP is also going to be operating a virtual Business Emergency Operations Center. It is a situational alerting system to connect businesses during a crisis. There will be a centralized portal to respond to and communicate during emergencies. It is a subscription based service.

If you want to sign up, log onto to www.thecepp.org (Note: Site will not be active until Wednesday).

There is also information at www.ready.gov that will help you look at ways you can better prepare yourself or your business to handle a crisis.