News & Columns > News Staff Member > Stay Alert!

Stay Alert!

By News Staff Member
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

At the end of May, RIMOFTHEWORLD.net announced Email and Mobile Phone Alerts were available to Club Members. With the addition of this new feature came the responsibility of the Alerts Team to insure the incidents released are accurate, relevant, and as complete as possible based on the information available at the time the incident is unfolding.

Many times the initial dispatch is for one type of incident and it turns out to be something different. An example of this is a traffic collision. The initial dispatch may be for a head-on accident, with injuries, blocking all lanes of traffic. When emergency personnel arrive on scene, they may find it to be minor with no injuries and the vehicles have cleared the roadway. However, they may also find it to be major injuries, multiple vehicles, and may have to issue a SIG alert to close the highway completely.

Either way, the email and text message you receive will reflect what is initially heard. "Traffic Collision – Injuries" with a location provided, which is dependent on the information given on that initial dispatch by either the California Highway Patrol, Sheriff's Department, County Fire, or the US Forest Service.

As the incident unfolds, the alert information may change from "Traffic Collision – Injuries" to "Traffic Collision – No Injuries" or, unfortunately, "Traffic Collision – Fatality." The location may change once first responders arrive on scene and provide an accurate address.

Club members have the ability to choose which types of alerts they receive – whether it is nothing, breaking news and major and critical incidents, just critical incidents, or everything (all news and incidents). Additionally, members have the option to limit the alerts they receive by specifying filter words. Since the inception on May 20, there have been 488 Alerts emails sent by the system.

Alerts tab on RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. (Photo by News Staff Member.)

When looking at the Alerts tab on RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, readers see color-coded incidents. "Critical" incidents display in red. These include in-area fires of all types: structure, vehicle, vegetation, etc. "Major" incidents display in orange. These types of incidents include traffic collisions, out-of-area fires, dangerous driving, Amber alerts, etc. There is a third category, gold-colored, that are informational-type incidents, such as non-injury traffic collisions, certain traffic hazards, medical aid, police activity, notices, and unable-to-locate fires or accidents.

In addition, there are two sources for the incidents that display on the Alerts tab. The first source is the Alerts Team. The volunteers that listen to the scanners who key the incidents into the Incidents Log system enter these. These types of Alerts are flagged "ALERTS TEAM," which is displayed following the alert type. For example, "Fire - Vegetation - Minor - ALERTS TEAM."

The second source is the CHP CAD system. These incidents come from a feed from the California Highway Patrol system. RIMOFTHEWORLD.net staff does not have the ability to modify those alerts. Whereas the Alerts Team logs a vegetation fire as "Fire - Vegetation - Minor - ALERTS TEAM," the CHP CAD system logs it as "Report of Fire." Incidents that come from the CHP CAD system do not generate email or phone alerts.

There are times when readers hear sirens or come upon an accident and when they check the Alerts tab, the incident is not listed. This occurs when the California Highway Patrol does not handle an incident, when a volunteer is not online, or if the scanner the volunteer is listening to did not pick up the transmissions.

As you read the Alerts pages, please keep in mind that the Alerts Team is comprised of volunteers. They may have full-time jobs, may have children, families, and other activities in their every day lives. They take time out of their busy day to jump in and type what they hear, when they can. RIMOFTHEWORLD.net's Team of volunteers is the best and we appreciate them very much!

We hope the Alerts emails and text messages are helpful to our Club Members. If you would like to receive the Alerts via email or phone text messages, visit our Club Sign Up Page for more details.