City announces new ‘Elmhurst ALERTS’ system; Residents urged to sign up for PSAs, emergency notifications

The City of Elmhurst has partnered with Everbridge, a leader in unified critical communications, to keep the Elmhurst community safe and informed with quick and reliable emergency notifications and public service announcements. The City will begin using the system starting in 2024, known as “Elmhurst ALERTS,” to communicate during emergencies, critical events, public advisories, and general news from the municipality.

“We are committed to providing public safety, community awareness, and emergency response,” said City Manager Jim Grabowski. “To uphold this, we need to reach our residents quickly and reliably when critical information and public service announcements are available.  Elmhurst ALERTS will allow the City of Elmhurst to disseminate this information across all types of devices, ensuring that the community has access to real-time public information when they need it the most.”

The system communicates both emergency alerts and community advisories. The City has invested in the premium version of the system, which connects to a database of publicly sourced information that aggregates residential and business phone numbers that can be utilized and sent out with emergency alerts only. Depending on the emergency, the alert may be sent to the entire city or selected geographical areas of the city.

Non-emergency messages will be sent to the community using their preferred contact paths – cell phone, SMS, home phone, or email — to ensure real-time access to information.

When you see 630-530-3773 displayed on your caller ID, this call is from the City’s Elmhurst ALERTS system. Messages will also be sent via email and text from number 89361.

Another benefit is the system allows community members to self-register and manage their subscriptions, provide additional contact information and subscribe to specific types of communication. Although we can connect using this database for emergency alerts, residents are encouraged to register immediately at Elmhurst.org/alerts. Registration allows you to create an account and customize settings to various types of alerts. Elmhurst ALERTS will be replacing what was previously referred to as CodeRED.

Your information is protected and will only be used to notify you in the event of an emergency, or for the alert categories you subscribe to.