Sign up with CodeRED to receive emergency and general alerts
Announcements, Community, UCFD May 27, 2020
UNION COUNTY, Ga – Union County residents can now receive emergency alerts using the CodeRED notifications services.
“It’s got a lot more features and it’s got an app you can use. The best thing about it is citizens can sit down and choose the alerts they want instead of having to let us do it,” explained Union County Fire Chief and EMA Director David Dyer.
To sign up, visit the CodeRED website or text UCALERTS to 99411. Once registers, users can customize their alert settings and preferred method of notification. The service is free and all personal information will be kept confidential.
The CodeRED app is available in the Apple and Google Play store. The system delivers text, emails, and phone calls to cell or home phones.
Several Georgia counties use CodeRED as an emergency alert system. The previous system in use by Union County was 15 years old and considered outdated.
Those signed up for the old system will still receive updates from CodeRED. However, Union County EMA (UCEMA) requests that everyone update their information on CodeRED.
CodeRED sends immediate action alerts such as a boil-water notice, missing child, weather emergency, or evacuation notice.
Weather warnings are also available and will automatically notify citizens in the path of severe weather just moments after National Weather Service issues a warning. UCEMA also uses CodeRED to send EMERGENCY notifications to keep citizens informed of emergencies such as evacuation notices, fires, floods, chemical spills, or other emergency situations.
General notifications pertaining to planned road closures, water main repairs, water and power service interruptions, and others will be delivered through the service. To receive these alerts, select “General” upon registration.
The mobile alert app provides community and emergency alerts to individuals targeted within an impacted geographical area via your smartphone anywhere in the country.
COVID-19: How to behave if you get sick
Community, Press Release, UCFD April 16, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County EMA (UCEMA) offered details about how to properly care for oneself and others if potentially exposed to COVID-19.
The number of confirmed cases in Union County has grown over the past week and will likely continue to spread. So, people should consider the following:
“The first thing is to know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. People who have been ill from this virus have reported that the symptoms can range from mild to severe. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure and most consist of flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
If someone has any of these symptoms, they must stay home and contact their doctor by phone immediately. They should not show up at the doctor’s office or the emergency room without calling. If someone does not have a doctor, they may contact the health department. The doctor or the health department will provide guidance as to what to do. This may or may not involve testing. People should not call 911 or go to the emergency room unless it is a true emergency.
There are two terms that people must be familiar with if they have been exposed or if they are sick. The terms are Quarantine and Isolation. Most people believe that they are on quarantine right now due to the shelter in place order, however, shelter in place means that you shouldn’t go out unless it is necessary.
Quarantine is used when a person may have been exposed to the virus. A healthcare provider or official may ask a person to quarantine. This means the person must remain at home for a period of fourteen days from the last known exposure or until test results come back. At their home, they must monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 which includes monitoring temperature twice per day. If they develop a fever of 100.4 Fahrenheit or higher or develop signs and symptoms, then they must contact their doctor.
Isolation is another term that many people do not understand. Isolation means that a person has a positive test result, or their symptoms strongly suggest that they are positive. In this event, a person must go home, isolate themselves from everyone, and stay there until the symptoms are gone for several days. Most people can treat themselves at home and recover.”
For more information on COVID-19, symptoms, quarantine, isolation and what to do if exposed or sick, visit www.dph.georgia.gov or call the COVID-19 Hotline: (844) 442-2681.
COVID-19 update from Union County EMA
Community, News, Press Release April 9, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County EMA (UCEMA) released an update to it’s Facebook page this week as COVID-19 confirmed cases grow in the community.
“Information on the COVID-19 virus changes at such a rapid pace that it is very difficult to keep up to date. We are attempting to keep everyone informed as to the latest happenings and information. There are cases in just about every county in Georgia, including Union County.
It does not matter how many people have come and gone in Union County; the virus has spread. The furthest, rural counties who do not have beautiful mountains, hiking trails, and vacation homes still have virus spread in their area. That should give you an idea just how easy this virus spreads.
[Union County is] at a critical time. Some studies and models have shown that the number of confirmed cases and deaths in Georgia are on the rise with a peak in late April. That is why slowing down the spread rate is very important. This virus will spread. The risk is real and should be taken very seriously. [The community needs] to slow down the spread in order to not overwhelm our healthcare system. Lives may depend on it.
UCEMA and the public have seen orders and actions from the national government down to the local level. The Governor of Georgia has issued an executive order “To Ensure a Safe & Healthy Georgia” which went into effect on Friday, April 3, 2020. The order is somewhat complicated, and everyone has questions as to what they can do; what they can’t do; and what will stay open or close.
There are too many orders to review in this column but the main points that we want to stress are the social distancing, restrictions on gatherings, sheltering in place, and certain businesses are to close. One quote from the order sums up the state of mind that everyone should have by stating that people should be “taking every possible precaution to limit social interaction to prevent the spread, or infection, of COVID-19 to themselves or any other person”. The complete order can be viewed on the Governor’s website www.gov.georgia.gov.
What UCEMA recommends is that people should stay at home over the next few weeks unless it is necessary to get out. Every activity that takes you from your home and is not necessary, can put you, your family, and your community at risk.
The Union County Emergency Management Agency is continuously working with everyone to meet this threat. They still strongly recommend following the CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health guidelines on how to slow the spread of COVID-19. Please visit www.unioncountyga.gov or call GDPH Hotline at (844) 442-2681.