Wildwood Encourages Residents to Sign-Up for Emergency Notification

WILDWOOD — Wildwood is encouraging residents to sign up for its Global Connect Emergency Notification System as part of the city’s Emergency Management Outreach Program.
Global Connect is an automated phone system that allows the City’s Emergency Management Team to reach thousands of residents quickly and easily in the event of a crisis. The system is already in place for Wildwood’s land phone lines. Residents and property owners are encouraged to add their cell phone and out- of- town phone numbers to the database.
“We set up this system to provide advance warning in case of severe weather or other emergency situations,” said Commissioner Bill Davenport, who oversees the Department of Public Safety and is the city’s emergency management coordinator “It’s easy to sign up on the city’s website and add as many phone numbers as you want. There is no charge for the service.”
In addition to residents, Global Connect allows the City to contact first responders, other staff members and volunteers. The call list can be customized to only call a particular street or area affected by an emergency. Wildwood’s Emergency Management can see who has received the message and then to retry those calls that were missed.
“It’s a great tool and we want as many people as possible to receive notifications,” said Davenport. “In addition to storm and flood warnings, we can notify people of police and fire activity, water main breaks and other emergencies that affect public safety.”
Implementing the Global Connect system helped Wildwood gain StormReady designation from the National Weather Service. As a recognized StormReady community, Wildwood is now eligible for additional Insurance Services Organization (ISO) community rating points in the National Flood Insurance Program.
To sign up for Global Connect emergency notifications, please visit the city’s website at www.wiIdwoodnj.org, select “Emergency Management” under “Departments”, then select “click here to register” under the Global Connect icon and fill out a brief form. For additional information or assistance, please contact Deputy Emergency Manager Michael Bailey at 609-523-8676.