Cooper Notification Launches Nation’s Largest Regional Alerting System

After ISC -- Cooper Notification, a platform of Cooper Industries, Ltd., announced that Philadelphia and five surrounding counties, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, Pa., and Gloucester, NJ, launched the patent-pending Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN), known as ReadyNotifyPA (www.ReadyNotifyPA.org) for emergency mass notification. The interoperable regional alerting system can alert more than 5 million citizens residing in the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan area. 

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Bucks and Montgomery County Commissioner Chairs James F. Cawley and James R. Matthews, along with Delaware County Council Vice Chair John J. Whelan, announced ReadyNotifyPA today at a regional press conference at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

“Providing information to the public as quickly as possible is one of the most critical factors in saving lives and preventing injuries during an emergency, “ said Mayor Nutter. “I am proud to be here today with my esteemed colleagues from across the region to announce a public warning system that will greatly enhance emergency response in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.”

This is the second stage of the ReadyNotifyPA launch in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, which is being deployed to the public today. The first stage was launched to emergency management and public safety officials in the Southeastern Counter Terrorism Task Force (SECTTF) in August 2007. ReadyNotifyPA allows emergency management officials in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Gloucester County, NJ, to send e-mail, text messages, phone calls and faxes to the public via cell phones, pagers, Blackberry, PDAs and other mass notification media during an emergency. 

Southeastern Pennsylvania and Gloucester County, NJ residents can sign up for free by visiting www.ReadyNotifyPA.org. 

The regional platform is fully integrated through the Roam Secure Information Exchange (RSIX). RSIX enables colleges and key businesses to tie into the county platform. For example, Villanova University, a Cooper Notification customer, can tie into the Montgomery County and Delaware County RSAN systems. Similarly, a large oil and gas refinery in Paulsboro, NJ is integrated with the Gloucester County, NJ RSAN system via RSIX. RSIX also automates a variety of alerts such as severe weather, traffic and river flood stage monitoring systems.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Task Force is responsible for implementing ReadyNotifyPA. They have funded this free service through a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Whether we are dealing with floods, winter storms, or threats to homeland security, emergencies don’t stop at our borders,” said Delaware County Council Vice-Chair John J. Whelan. “Implementing a public warning system that transcends county lines will make our region better prepared for any kind of emergency.”

Philadelphia is the seventh major U.S. city to deploy Cooper Notification’s RSAN™ for emergency communications, including New Orleans, San Francisco and Washington, DC. “We are pleased Philadelphia and the surrounding region has taken this important step in strengthening personal and regional alerting capabilities for its community,” said David Drescher, General Manager- Roam Secure, Cooper Notification. “Cooper Notification’s layered approach to mass notification solutions provides a reliable, scalable and the industry’s most comprehensive platform for mass notification.”