![Colorado counties using app for emergency alerts during wildfires and flooding Colorado counties using app for emergency alerts during wildfires and flooding](https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/reachwell-app-3.jpg?fit=2075%2C1383&quality=70&ssl=1)
After Eagle County officials responded to seven small wildfires in less than a year, they felt it was critical to begin providing emergency alerts to residents more quickly, effectively, and in multiple languages.
About a year ago, when Eagle County officials began working with leaders at ReachWell, an organization that runs a cellphone app that translates emergency alerts into more than 130 languages, they didn’t know much about platforms that can interpret or translate emergency alerts.
Now, people in Eagle County who have the app downloaded on their phones can receive traffic alerts and reports about wildfires and floods, said Fernando Almanza, Eagle County deputy emergency manager.
“The ease of translating emergency alerts into many different languages helps exponentially rather than trying to find 50 to 100 translators at the same time for each notification,” he said.
Nationwide, there are 213 organizations, including schools, child care centers, governments and local agencies, now transmitting their alerts and other critical community resource information through the ReachWell app.
Some of the notifications can be as simple as providing information about new services offered at a nonprofit, for example, while others can be life-saving, such as alerts that provide details about evacuation orders.
The app is important, especially now, ReachWell leaders said, as counties are running their own campaigns to raise awareness about emergency notifications to help ensure Coloradans can receive reliable alerts in the middle of the season. of wildfires and floods and as extreme weather events become more common.
“There’s so much misinformation out there that it stresses a lot of people out about what’s true,” said Zuben Bastani, president and founder of ReachWell, who lives in Denver.
People trust the app, Bastani said, because messages are sent by sources they trust, including human services providers, schools and behavioral health organizations.
“Our mission is to make sure communities are educated, supported and protected,” Bastani said.
In Colorado, about 90,000 people use ReachWell, and nationally, about 180,000 people interact with the app, which launched in 2018, Bastani said.
Zuben Bastani, on May 22, 2024, at the Posner Center for International Development in Denver. ReachWell, an app Bastani founded and launched in 2018, is an emergency messaging and notification app that promotes community engagement for people who speak languages other than English and are visually or hearing impaired. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
In Colorado, 10 counties have integrated their alert systems with ReachWell to provide translated notifications, including Boulder, Eagle, El Paso, Garfield, Jackson, Pitkin, Delta, San Miguel, Larimer and Teller counties.
On May 14, El Paso-Teller County 911 Authority announced its partnership with ReachWell to bolster its alert and warning system, Peak Alerts, making it the latest Colorado county to begin sending notifications through the app of translation.
Since July 2023, 1,096 emergency messages have been sent through ReachWell, Bastani said.
A small county pays about $2,500 per year to send alerts through ReachWell. The annual fee increases if an organization decides to add features to its service plan, such as translated emails, phone calls, or text messages.
When consumers download the app, they can follow any organization they want to receive alerts from, select their primary language, and then receive alerts that are automatically translated into the language they speak most fluently.
People with visual or hearing impairments can receive audio or video notifications to help them receive translated alerts.
App users are not asked to share their contact or location information, key questions that may cause low-income and undocumented families to decide not to use apps that ask for that information.
“With some of the laws that are being passed and some of the trends we are seeing around accessibility standards and how everyone deserves to have access to communication, I think it is very important that ReachWell be available to all residents regardless of your citizenship or documentation status. Bastani said.
Address gaps in emergency communications through legislation
Gaps in the delivery of emergency communications, especially to non-native English speakers during the Grizzly Creek and Marshall fires, were so acute that the issue caught the attention of Colorado journalists and lawmakers.
In 2023, legislation required the University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center to conduct a study by July 1 to identify best practices that could help local governments, 911 authorities, sheriff’s offices and districts firefighters to provide emergency alerts in different languages more effectively.
The bill also required the Natural Hazards Center to submit its recommendations in a report to the Department of Public Safety’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division and the General Assembly by Jan. 8.
The study’s findings were published earlier this year and found that emergency alerts in Colorado must be more inclusive to effectively warn more than 250,000 people who live in the state and speak a language other than English and more than 500,000 people with hearing and visual disabilities.
Dicted text is displayed in Spanish in the ReachWell app, which offers emergency alerts and other important information in 130 languages. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
According to the study, Colorado’s current alert systems make it difficult to provide consistent and accessible emergency alerts, especially for people with disabilities and people who speak English as a second language or not at all.
According to the study, the state relies heavily on optional emergency alert systems, although most municipalities report low opt-in rates of less than 40%.
Emergency response officials want to use systems and practices that make alerts more inclusive, but they need more guidance, funding and staff to do so properly, study leaders said.
Translating critical information during the Grizzly Creek Fire
Many schools have used ReachWell for years, but since House Bill 1110 became law in 2021, more organizations have come on board to use the app, Bastani said.
House Bill 1110 made it illegal for people with disabilities to be excluded or denied access to services, programs and activities offered by public entities or state agencies.
Under the law, public organizations and state agencies must have developed an accessibility plan and must be in full compliance by July 1.
“ReachWell certainly helps our partners achieve that level of compliance,” Bastani said.
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, said one of her goals is to address an issue faced by many non-native English speakers, who are unable to access critical information during medical emergencies such as during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid of the weather. related events, such as in the middle of the Grizzly Creek fire.
The Grizzly Creek Fire spread quickly and closed Interstate 70 for two weeks.
At the time, about 30% of her district’s population was Latino, and the need for emergency communications in Spanish was critical as the county sent out evacuation orders, road closure notifications and air quality alerts.
“There were a lot of things going on and I jumped in to help as an interpreter and translator,” she said. “I recognize the importance of language access, especially when it comes to an emergency. “This is the worst day of someone’s life.”
When the fire started, Garfield County The Sheriff’s Office did not have a system that allowed it to share notifications in different languages, Velasco said.
Local residents began asking for information in Spanish related to the wildfires, and a few days after the fire started, the Glenwood Springs Fire Department asked Velasco to translate daily updates.
Shortly after, she began working as an interpreter for the U.S. Forest Service and a national incident management team, providing translation services during community meetings.
Zuben Bastani, May 22, 2024, at the Posner Center for International Development in Denver. The app, which launched in 2018, has helped Colorado officials and organizations translate critical information and aims to keep people who speak a foreign language informed and connected to vital services. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
Offering commuting translation services became an important part of translating information from English to Spanish while I-70 was closed.
Detours took five hours and locals used an off-road trail, Cottonwood Pass, which opens during the summer to reduce long wait times while traveling to and from work, he said. “But not everyone knew that,” he said of the local road.
“This is really about public safety and everyone being able to have information to make informed decisions,” Velasco said. “The fire season no longer affects only the forest. “We are seeing large fires in urban areas and it is a state priority to ensure our local partners can share this information with the community.”
Velasco was the lead co-sponsor of the bill that called for the Natural Hazards Center to conduct the study that would provide recommendations to improve Colorado’s emergency response system.
“I wanted to work to create more structure when it comes to how organizations and governments send emergency alerts,” he said. “They need to have a plan and they need support,” she added. “Right now, we don’t have enough of that. This was just the beginning. I am hopeful that we can work together with our state agencies and departments and local governments to come up with some guidance and support. We have to make sure we are investing to serve everyone.”
Story Type: News
Based on facts, either directly observed and verified by the journalist, or reported and verified by knowledgeable sources.
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