Resources
Boone County Ready offers a vast array of resources to help you to stay safe and be prepared before, during and after any emergency.
Boone County Ready, powered by Smart911, Safety Profile
Boone County Ready, powered by Smart911, allows you to create a safety profile where you enter your household's information. Having a completed safety profile that includes each member of your household, including pets, is critical in the event of an emergency at your home. If first responders need to respond to an emergency at your residence, having a completed safety profile can not only decrease response time but also assists in reducing the anxiety surrounding the incident.
Furthermore, Smart911 is recognized nationwide. That means, no matter where you are traveling - your information in your profile travels with you and will be available anytime you call 911; no matter where you are! *
*Smart911 is a trusted public safety and first responder partner. The Smart911/RAVE Mobile platform is available nationwide. Current Smart911 profiles and user information will only be available in current Smart911/RAVE Mobile participating jurisdictions
Smart911 FAQs
Boone County Ready powered by Smart911 is a service that residents are already paying for through tax dollars. Taking advantage of the Smart911 services available to you is fiscally and socially responsible.
Still, we understand that you may have questions before taking that first step towards taking control of your personal preparedness. You can find the answers to FAQs below. If you can't find the information you are looking for, feel free to contact us at (573)554-7900 or by e-mail.
General
What is Boone County Ready?
Boone County Ready is the Boone County Office of Emergency Management (BCOEM) community preparedness campaign. This mission of the Boone County Ready campaign is to enhance community preparedness, foster collaboration and build resilience by engaging our citizens in actively preparing for emergencies and disasters.
Why should I sign-up for Boone County Ready Alerts?
When emergencies happen, be the first to know. Boone County Joint Communications and the Office of Emergency Management uses Boone County Ready to send official, real-time alerts to the public. These alerts contain information about potentially life-saving actions that may need to be taken to keep citizens and their families safe. By signing up for Boone County Ready Alerts, you are taking a large step toward improving your personal safety.
How does it work?
When an emergency occurs that meets the criteria for sending out an alert to the public, Boone County Joint Communications (BCJC) emergency dispatchers will gather the necessary information and push out an alert to the affected area. Alerts can be sent out county-wide to everyone who has opted-in to the system.
How much does it cost?
This service is provided by the Boone County Government through tax dollars; however, message and data rates may apply depending on your provider and phone services.
Can you guarantee that I will receive notifications if I register?
While Boone County Ready Alerts is an excellent system, we cannot guarantee that you will receive notification in all cases. Disasters and emergencies are chaotic and unpredictable, and notification is dependent on external providers such as your wireless carrier or email delivery service outside the control of Boone County Government. Boone County Ready Alerts uses several means of communication to ensure that, should any one communication method, technology, or delivery option be unavailable, citizens will receive the message.
Signing Up
How do I sign-up for Boone County Ready?
Signing up for Boone County Ready is easy! Here are the options available to you:
- Text SMART911 to 67283 to receive a link to download the Smart911 app and create a safety profile.
- Download the Smart911 app and create a safety profile.
- Visit Boone County's Smart911 portal and register if you do not have a smart device.
To update you existing Smart911 preferences, login here.
Who can sign-up for Boone County Ready?
Boone County Ready is available to anyone who lives, works, travels through or visits Boone County and municipalities. The address can be your home location, work location, or any other location you care about.
I don't own a computer - who can help me sign-up for Boone County Ready Alerts?
You can visit your local library to sign up online for Boone County Ready. You can also download the Smart911 app on your smart phone. Boone County Office of Emergency Management and Joint Communications are happy to walk you through the steps over the phone or in-person. Contact us directly if you are in need of assistance.
Alerts
What types of alerts will I receive?
Emergency alerts are sent 24/7 when there is an immediate threat to life and/or property. In addition to emergency alerts, you can also choose to receive customizable community notifications. These include notifications about:
- Severe Weather
- Safety Risks
- Health Risks
- Transportation Disruption
- Special Event Information
- Test Messages
Can I call the alert phone number back or reply back to the email?
You are not able to reply to texts or emails sent by Boone County Ready powered by Smart911 unless the message provides survey or polling link. Voice messages provide a dial-back number to replay an alert message.
When will I start receiving alerts?
Once you have signed up online and confirmed your contact information within the system, you will begin receiving alerts.
How do I update or remove my notification preferences and contact information used by Boone County Ready powered by Smart911?
Follow the below steps to change your preferences (for example, to reduce the number of messages of a certain type, or to change the contacts used for each kind of message):
- Go to the login page for Smart911.
- Login using your Smart911 username and password (If you've forgotten these, follow the instructions on the page under "Forgot Username or Password?").
- Once signed in, click the "Preferences" tab at the top.
- Under "Notification Preferences", you can make changes to both the phone numbers and email addresses on which you want to receive messages by clicking or unclicking the checkboxes.
- You can also choose what alerts you want to receive and the method you wish to receive them by (text, voice, email).
- For example, if you wish to turn off all messages regarding Transportation Disruptions, simply uncheck the box to the left of "Transportation Disruption".
- If you wish instead only to receive emails for Transportation Disruption notifications, instead uncheck the "Text" and / or "Voice" choices, so that only "Email" remains checked.
How often will I receive alerts?
he frequency for which you receive alerts depends on the addresses you provide and the types of alerts you select to receive as well as the frequency of actual emergencies. Emergency alerts will only be sent when there is an immediate threat to life and/or property. Community notifications will be sent when the criteria for sending an alert are met.This system is not intended to bombard you with information. The County will only send you alerts about the information you select to receive. To change your alert settings, login here and edit your preferences.
How does the Boone County Ready powered by Smart911 system respond to busy signals or no-answer situations?
If a call completes and is sent to your answering machine or voice mail system, a message is left. If a phone call is not answered or busy, the system redials your number several times.
Privacy and Contact Information
Will my information be disclosed or shared?
No, your information is private and will not be used or distributed in any manner. The information that you provide is exempt from public disclosure and will be used for emergency purposes only.
What precautions are taken to protect personal contact information stored in the Boone County powered by Smart911 system?
Personal information provided to Boone County powered by Smart911 is private and only used to notify you for official communications and to support emergency services.
Your information is not used for marketing purposes and will not be sold to telemarketers or data-mining organizations. A variety of "opt-in" mechanisms are available to ensure you are getting just the messages you want to receive, delivered via the devices and communications modes that you choose.
Boone County Ready powered by Smart911 utilizes the highest standards in physical and computer security technologies and conducts regular audits to ensure all information is kept secure. Privacy policies are also outlined in the Terms and Conditions you review when you sign up to receive Boone County Ready notifications.
Boone County Ready Alerts and Notifications
Opting in for Boone County Ready alerts and notifications allows BCJC and the OEM to communicate to your cell phone, landline or email to keep you informed of severe weather, traffic alerts, emergency notifications and preparedness messaging. You can customize which alerts you want to receive and where you want to receive the alerts by using the Smart911 app for Android or iOS.
Boone County Ready Facility, Powered by Rave
Emergency calls come from within large facilities or campuses every day, from landlines and mobile phones. Whether it is an employee, customer, student, or visitor in that location; having the information to reach their exact location within the facility as well as access points, points of contact and maps, can shorten response time. A Boone County Ready Facility profile powered by Rave can help to protect both people and places. This feature is how Boone County Joint Communications (BCJC) can obtain additional premise information for facilities, campuses and other large structures in our community during an emergency call. When a 9-1-1 call, landline or mobile, comes from within the geographical boundaries of that location (as determined by the facility profile), the profile will by immediately displayed to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. In addition, authorized individuals can search for the profile of a facility by name.
Profile Components
A Facility profile can include:
- Multiple buildings within a campus
- Point(s) of contact on-site
- Fire alarm contact
- Security alarm contact
- Property owner contact information
- Gates or access codes
- Geographical boundaries including parking lots
- Floor plans of each building
- Landline phone numbers within a building
- Locations of fire extinguishers, AEDS, and First Aid stations
Think About It
Emergency calls come from within large facilities or campuses every day, from landlines and mobile phones. Whether it is an employee, customer, student or visitor, having the information to reach their exact location within the facility as well as access points, points of contact and maps can shorten response time. A Rave Facility profile can help to protect both people and places.
Create a Boone County Ready Facility Profile today.
Specific Cases
- Active Shooter - A profile can contain exits, floor plans, on-site contacts and surrounding parking lots and roads to assist in locking down or evacuating a location quickly
- Medical Emergency - A profile can contain access points to the location, location of AEDs nearby, and who to contact on-site
- Fire - A profile can contain evacuation routes, exits in a building, stairwells and elevators, on-site contacts and the closest hydrants in order to safely evacuate and respond to a fire or other hazard on-site
Community Partners
- Schools
- Senior centers
- Hospitals
- Medical centers
- Retail stores
- Office buildings
- Hotels
- Churches
- Tier II facilities
Benefits
- Shortened response times
- First responder safety
- Civilian and employee safety
- Informed dispatchers
- Informed citizens
- Socially responsible
- Rave Panic Button addition
Panic Button
Under Facility, another tool exists - the Rave Panic Button. This app is available for facilities to purchase for their students and/or employees and staff. The app offers more than just emergency call buttons. Upon the activation of any of the buttons, a preset notification is sent to all necessary on-site staff and safety personnel. The notification is also received by 9-1-1 in addition to details about the location of the incident, facility profile data, and more. This tool aids first responders before arriving on scene to determine the best approach to the situation.
Features
The Staff Assist feature enables authorized employees to communicate with on-site groups or individuals without initiating an emergency call to 9-1-1.
Once a button has been activated, 9-1-1 can initiate customizable check-ins with those on-site to see who is injured, get their locations and current status of the situation to better direct first responders arriving on scene.
Benefits
- Additional functionality integrations
- Efficient messaging
- Incident management
Credentials
This FirstNet-listed platform is fully interoperable, connecting devices, 9-1-1 systems, and multi-jurisdictional local and state first responder agencies across a single platform. For school safety efforts, the Rave Panic Button also meets and exceeds the requirements of "Alyssa's Law" and has been certified by the United States Department of Homeland Security under the SAFETY Act (Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technology).
Tell me more
Interested in setting up a demo or learning more? Contact the Office of Emergency Management.
Sign up for Smart911 online or to download the Smart911 app, Text SMART911 to 67283.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
As the nation's nonprofit clearinghouse and comprehensive reporting center for all issues related to the prevention of and recovery from child victimization, NCMEC leads the fight against abduction, abuse, and exploitation - because every child deserves a safe childhood.
Whether you are a parent or caregiver, teacher, first responder or mental health professional - NCMEC has resources available to you.
NCMEC is committed to providing training, technical assistance, education, and resources at no cost to child-serving professionals, including law enforcement and other personnel who assist with missing and exploited children cases. View their online training courses.
NCMEC provides safety and prevention resources for families and professionals focusing on child abduction, child sexual exploitation, and internet safety.
- KidSmartz Personal Safety Program: A child safety program that educates families and children about how to prevent abduction and that empowers elementary-aged students to practice safer behaviors
- NetSmartz Online Safety Program: An educational program that teaches children ages 5-17 about online safety and digital citizenship. NetSmartz offers free, age-appropriate resources including videos, games, presentations, and classroom lessons to help children learn how to protect themselves and their friends online
- Code Adam: A program, named in honor of Adam Walsh, that is designed to help businesses and other establishments ensure that they have safety protocols in place to respond quickly and effectively to situations involving a missing child
- Safe to Compete: Guidelines for youth-serving sporting organizations and the parents of child athletes to help protect children from sexual abuse
For a complete list of resources available visit NCMEC's webpage.
PulsePoint: Building Informed Communities
PulsePoint is an app that connects citizens with lifesaving information that is already available in the community. This app allows for the community to share where AEDs are located so that if someone calls 9-1-1 for a heart emergency dispatch can connect them with that tool while they wait for first responders. In addition, others in the nearby area who are CPR certified will be alerted in the event that someone calls 9-1-1 for an emergency that warrants CPR. Furthermore, anyone with the app can be alerted to all Fire and EMS calls automatically at the same time dispatch receives them.
Download the PulsePoint app for free today. To learn more about PulsePoint, visit their webpage.
Suicide Prevention
As of 2019, suicide was the 10th leading cause of overall deaths in Missouri. Teen suicide is currently the third leading cause of death in youth under 15 years old. Suicide is preventable. By recognizing, talking about and treating mental health, we can work together to prevent suicide. Our community is fortunate to have a vast network of resources, many of which are listed below. This list changes as more resources become available or unavailable. Please contact our office if you see any information that is not current or to add a resource.
- ONE (Our Networks Engaged) is a community-wide campaign to prevent suicide launched by Burrell Behavioral Health, offering free training on recognizing mental health warnings signs, how to talk about suicide with loved ones and connect them with resources to help.
- Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help. To view training available near you, visit their website to find a course.
- The STU22 Crew Foundation was created in 2010 to promote awareness for the prevention of teen suicide.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Ending the Silence is a presentation that helps audience members learn about the warning signs of mental health conditions and steps to take if you or a loved one are showing symptoms of a mental health condition.
- Children's Grove of Columbia is a non-profit that's works to offer support for the social, emotional and mental well-being of youth. They have several Mental Health resources for children as young as preschool.
- Requiem Alliance is a newer non-profit created to increase focus on mental health concerns in the service industry.