Sedgwick County’s Civic Ready alerts keep citizens informed

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Sedgwick County is working to inform residents about what’s going on in their neighborhoods.

People can sign up for the county’s Civic Ready Emergency Alert System. The service is free with messages coming directly from Sedgwick County Emergency Management or 911 dispatchers.

“One of the things that we stress in emergency management is for the public to have multiple ways to get critical life-saving information,” said Cody Chavrvat with Sedgwick County Emergency Management. “They might sign up for certain things on the internet, but those might not necessarily be tailored to them or their specific location and that’s what Civic Ready alerts can do. They come from us in emergency management or perhaps 911 or if they live in one of the surrounding communities that come from their local police, their local city hall whatever it might be. "

Several people who have signed up for the service may have gotten a notice on Wednesday for an incident that didn’t happen in their area. Wichita police and SWAT were out with a person who was suffering a mental health crisis near 9th and Zoo Blvd.

The county said an alert went out to people in the geographic location of the incident, plus everyone who had subscribed to Wichita Public Safety Alerts. Because the incident was located near a school, the county sent the alert beyond the geographical area, recognizing that the school would be dismissing and parents and caregivers would be coming from outside the area in an attempt to pick up children.

Soon after the alert went out, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications and Emergency Management realized that some alerts omitted the location of the SWAT situation so the notification was re-sent minutes later, with the location included for all alerts.

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