Hans Leguizamo / Peninsula 360 Press
Redwood City. One report indicates that very few people use the SMC Alert system, which is provided by the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services (OES).
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues along with wildfires, emergency alerts and similar systems can save lives.
One of the suggestions that have been made to improve the coverage of this alarm is to change its optional nature. Instead of residents voluntarily registering, the system will work better if they are automatically registered, and leave it up to the users' discretion whether they want to receive the service, or unsubscribe.
The county jury also noted the language barrier in the list of reasons for low registration. Although approximately 9 percent of the county speaks Chinese, and 6.5 percent speaks Tagalog, alerts are only available in English and Spanish.
Daly City is a great example of the impact that the language barrier can have on registration. In this City, 66.4 percent of city residents speak a language other than English when they are at home. Daly City, the largest city in the county, however, has a 2.6 percent underwriting rate, the second lowest in the county. That's why the report recommends that the OSE translate all enrollment materials and alerts by March 31, 2021.
The report has three recommendations for the OSE: Obtain E-911 landline phone records; Access the public information registry to obtain bill payment data; and Continue negotiations with cell phone companies who have been reluctant to cooperate in the past.
San Mateo County's average underwriting rate of 10.6 percent is similar to other Bay Area counties. Santa Clara has 8.1 percent, and Sonoma County has 12 percent.
You can access the SMC Alert registration website at this link;
With information from Bay City News.
