By Jerry Curry, Staff Writer

More first responders are called out on runs today than ever before. This includes EMS, police (city or county), and fire department. They work tirelessly 24/7 365 days a year. Salem has warning sirens but not every municipality in Washington County has sirens. According to Deni Stempowski, director of Emergency Management for Washington County, making sirens available in every municipality would cost $8.3 million. On WSLM’s November 14 Coffee Club, she said each siren is only good for a 4-mile radius. The solution is CodeRED.

CodeRED is a wireless notification system that uses land and cell phones. Citizens can choose what type of notifications they would like to receive and method of delivery. The choices include weather, chemical releases, evacuation notices, missing children and street closures just to name a few. Contact may be made by text, voice or email. The calls, text or email are able to provide explicit instructions on what to do depending on the situation.

Stempowski took over as director of Emergency management in January of 2024, however, she has plenty of experience in the field. Originally from Ohio where she was on the Emergency Management team there, her background covers 40 years of experience in emergency management. One important aspect of her position is that she collaborates with all departments when it comes to planning for emergencies, and she believes CodeRED can make a large difference in how the public is notified.

One of the more attractive aspects of CodeRED is its cost. Running at only $27,000 dollars for five years with no installation fee, it is vastly cheaper than installing enough sirens to cover all municipalities. Duke Energy has already sent a partial grant to cover this expense. Donations and other grants may make this possible in 2025. The National Weather bureau can use this as well as local emergency management teams.

Also discussed was school closure notifications, which is not as simple a decision as looking out the window. Washington County is a large area; different areas may have more critical problems than other parts of the county. So, drivers are sent out to test the roads in different areas. A major problem, especially on bridges and roads that get very little sun, is black ice. Clearing the roads of snow for EMS is very important, and streets with residents with known problems are made a priority.

Checking roads has become an easy task. Simply check the Indiana travel advisory website and click on the county of interest. Another site of information is the Washington County Emergency Management Facebook page.

Finally, it is important to have the proper tools in your vehicle. Stempowski gave some examples of what your car should be equipped with. These include a flashlight, blanket, water, food, small shovel, ice scraper, battery powered radio, and plenty of fuel in the tank. Another piece of advice Stempowski gave was in regard to vehicle exhaust. While warming the car up be sure to have backed the car out of the garage enough so the deadly exhaust fumes are able to exit the house.

Deni Stempowski (Right).