Emergency Management Otago is encouraging residents across the region to sign up to ‘Gets Ready’, a two-way communication tool which helps people better prepare for emergencies.

Gets Ready is a well-established system that was set up in the Selwyn District after the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes. 

It has already been trialled in Central Otago and Queenstown’s Kelvin Heights Peninsula for the past year and is now being rolled out across Otago as part of Emergency Management Otago’s commitment to improving across the '4 Rs': reduction, readiness, response and recovery. 

Gets Ready will connect people in their neighbourhoods and help them look after each other by sharing resources, supporting those who are more vulnerable, and linking with Civil Defence.

The Otago Gets Ready QR code. IMAGE: Supplied

It will keep residents informed of what’s happening through email and text alerts and invite them to be part of a co-ordinated community emergency response.   

“Rather than mass alerts, the Gets Ready email and text alert system will help us target and send localised information to residents about situations that directly affect them, from small-scale events (boil water notices or fire bans) to major emergencies like earthquakes, floods, fires, severe weather events, and tsunamis/seiches,” project coordinator Craig Gibson said.  

“The targeting tool is particularly powerful – we can now pinpoint suburbs and streets, right down to the side of a street or a household.”  

Project coordinator Craig Gibson PHOTO: Supplied

The Otago Emergency Management team will be out around the region in the coming months promoting Gets Ready to residents in different ways, from online channels to in-person events such as community association and emergency response group meetings, festivals, and via council, social agency, business and school networks.  

Craig said they are aiming to register 20,000 Otago residents by the end of 2021 and he hopes that once people sign up, they’ll encourage others to do so as well. 

The Gets Ready system does not supersede the National Emergency Alerts which are pushed through cell towers, or individual Council alerts, rather it supplements them by providing more detailed, localised information through additional channels. 

To register for Gets Ready, either scan the Otago Gets Ready QR code or log your contact details here (you can choose to share as much or as little information as you wish). Once you receive the activation email click on the link to activate your profile. All information is held privately and securely and is only accessible to authorised Civil Defence staff.