How Does MdReady Prepare Maryland? Listen To This Podcast

Editors Note: MdReady text alerts are no longer fuctioning. MDEM is still your go-to place before, during, and after a storm. MDEM uses Wireless Emergency Alerts to notify Marylanders with ugent, localized warnings. Learn more.

On the Preparedness in Your Pocket podcast, a spokesperson for the Maryland Information Network, which powers 211 Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Emergency Management talked about the enhanced MdReady emergency text alert system.

They spoke with Kendal Lee, the Program Administrator for the Maryland Emergency Preparedness Network, which provides no-cost emergency preparedness education training and resources to home and community-based professionals, patients, and their caregivers.

Jorge Castillo, Spokesperson and Brand Manager for Communications and Outreach at the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM), and Kenyn Benjamin, a certified business architect and operations consultant with Maryland Information Network, both joined Kendal for the conversation.

They talked about MdReady, an emergency alert text message available in Maryland through a partnership with MDEM and the Maryland Information Network (MdInfoNet), which powers 211 Maryland.

Role of emergency alerts

“Why are emergency alerts so important for Maryland residents to be aware of, and what role do they play in keeping our community safe?” Kendal asked.

Jorge

It’s a simple answer for me. It has to do with being prepared. Right? You know, at home, you have groceries because you know that you’re going to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just like when you go to the office you prepare your lunch and take it with you. Emergency alerts allow you to get ahead of that potential disturbance to your life that’s coming. So, it’s giving you a heads up, and depending on the type of alert, it’s saying, hey, start thinking about this because this may happen, or it may be, hey, this is going to happen, so let’s get going, or this is happening now. Take action immediately. So, it’s about preparedness. Now, with the digital world, you know we can have alerts delivered in seconds, and that has resulted in many lives being saved.

Kendal

I appreciate your sharing that I think what you’re speaking to is that, as human beings, the act of preparedness or the practice of preparedness is really something that’s innate. It’s not anything different than what we already do each day, and so it absolutely lets you empower each other to tap into that skill that we already have by using a tool like emergency alerts. It sounds like there have just been so many advancements over the years that we are now bringing this information to our fingertips when it matters most.

Types of alerts Marylanders receive

Kendal

Could you then speak to when we receive an alert, what types of alerts Maryland residents can expect to receive? What are some of the common emergency alerts that come through our devices?

Jorge

The ones that you’re probably going to be the most familiar with are the ones that make your cell phone vibrate and give you that tone, and that is known as a wireless emergency alert, and that is part of a federal system of alerts.

For example, you might get it because there is an imminent threat alert. So it could be a tornado warning, a flash flood warning, or even a tsunami warning, which, you know, we don’t see a lot of here in Maryland. But potentially, in California, you may be getting one of those hurricane or typhoon warnings as well, depending on where you are.

And then, severe wind warnings as well. So those are the imminent threat alerts. There are also public safety alerts as part of the WEA—the wireless emergency alert system. That would be an evacuation order or a boil water advisory, for example.

Or, more recently, we actually at MDEM coordinated with Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Anne Arundel County when the precision demolition was taking place to remove the debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

So, we sent an alert around that perimeter where people were likely to hear the booms, warning them about that. That’s a public safety alert.

Then, there’s the Amber alerts, which you’re probably all familiar with—a child under 18 that has been abducted or believed to have been abducted.

And finally, you receive a presidential alert. This is reserved for national emergencies that can only be sent by the President of the United States.

So, all of those are sent via the wireless emergency alert system as part of the greater federal IPA system. You might see some of these alerts on the radio or on your TV. These are also part of that larger array of alerts that you may receive.

Other alerts are things that an emergency management department like ours may do. So, I know we’re going to talk about the MdReady alert system. That is a system that will give you a heads-up if something is happening or if it’s imminently going to happen.

Other alerts that you may receive if you’re subscribed to social media will come as a tweet (formerly Twitter). So, for example, when the National Weather Service issues a flash flood watch or a blizzard warning, as soon as they send that alert out, we automatically share that information with all our followers through our social media as well.

And another type of alert that you may see is while you’re driving down if you are driving down the expressway or a highway; you may actually see those digital billboards that will pop up. We use them as well. We have a partnership with Clear Channel. If there is a tornado watch, a tornado warning, or high winds, you will see those posted there.

These are the types of alerts that you may come across as a Marylander.

Thank you for painting this picture for us, Jorge. It sounds like the wireless emergency alerts, otherwise known as the WEA, are a component and tool within the broader IPAWS federal framework that is specifically designed to deliver wireless alerts to mobile devices on a national basis.

Now that you’ve discussed our national options for communicating emergencies, could you share more about the options unique to our state of Maryland?

Kendal

Thank you for sharing both the federal and state emergency alert options, Jorge. To summarize for our listeners, we discussed how the IPAWS federal framework integrates both federal and state communication systems, including the WEA wireless emergency alerts, which are available nationwide to deliver critical pieces of information directly to our devices.

History of MdReady in Maryland

Kendal

I think this is a perfect time to transition into talking about a unique emergency alert option offered here in Maryland called the MdReady alert system.

Jorge, I would love for you to first share with our listeners the history of the partnership between MDEM and 211 Maryland that made MD Ready alerts possible.

Jorge

Yeah, so in 2018, we at MDEM began conversations with the CEO at the time of 211 Maryland. What we realized is that aside from social media alerts or hoping that the press would amplify one of our alerts, there was no ability for us to proactively inform the public.

Remember, the WEA alerts are triggered by specific things, so you’re restricted. You can’t just send a WEA alert whenever you like. So, we needed a way to have more flexibility—not only to send alerts but also to send preparedness tips.

We started our conversation in late 2018. By 2019, we were finalizing our memorandum of understanding and setting up our alert system.

We started small as we tested and perfected the system. Then, around the end of 2019, we started noticing COVID-19 in China and how it was spreading throughout the world. By the time we got the first cases in Maryland, we had already established our text alert system, so we were ready to go.

After COVID-19, we used it a lot. Some days, we would use it daily. We used it not only to keep people alert about where COVID was and the precautions to take but also to inform them about mandates and restrictions. For example, when businesses were closed and then started reopening, we sent text alerts to let people know which businesses could now open.

When we moved into the vaccination phase, we used MdReady extensively to let people know about vaccination phases, who could get vaccinated, and to generally keep them informed about changes since the situation was very fluid.

It changed every day so that really strengthened our partnership. 211 Maryland was not only a partner in delivering these text alerts by providing the architecture to send them out, but they also worked with us in our State Emergency Operations Center.

They also stood up call centers so that if people had questions about the texts we sent, COVID, or vaccinations, they could call. They would be routed to 211 Maryland. They have a number of people who were trained on how to answer all these questions, so it was wonderful from the beginning. It has slowly but surely gotten more robust.

Our friendship and partnership has grown.

We have roughly 200,000 subscribers and are hoping to grow more as people learn about the new MdReady system

Kendal

Thank you, Jorge, for sharing about that longstanding and what sounds like a continually growing partnership between MDEM and 211 Maryland. It’s really amazing to hear how MdReady text alerts, which launched in 2020, have been such an important tool for keeping Marylanders informed both before, during, and after a crisis.

And I really love how you mentioned how the new technology allows the state to reach subscribers within minutes. What a game changer!

When you think about it, 2020 was such a pivotal year for us all. If we all take a moment to reflect on that, it will be pivotal for us for different reasons.

It wasn’t just the start of the pandemic, but it was also a time when clear and timely communication became absolutely critical in the world of emergency preparedness communication and public health communications.

And it sounds like the MdReady alerts were so powerful for connecting with people during that time by providing updates about public health resources and emergencies as they unfolded in real time.

So, I really appreciate you highlighting the roles these alerts played in keeping us all prepared and resilient during such uncertain times.

Jorge, I’m going to specifically ask you first—if someone’s interested in learning about MDEM, where can they go to learn more about the network that you represent?

Jorge

They can go to mdmem.maryland.gov.

That’s our website. On our homepage, you’ll find buttons that will take you to all the possibilities of emergency preparedness—from building an emergency kit to signing up for alerts. You’ll be able to find a way to do it easily from our homepage.

Kendal

Thank you so much, Kenyn, and thank you so much, Jorge, for joining me today and sharing invaluable insights and your expertise with our listeners.

I’m incredibly grateful to be on the receiving end as the host, but I’m also in the position of an audience member as well. I get to learn alongside our listeners. So thank you again to both of you—it’s been such a joy.

And to our listeners, your presence not only makes our work possible but truly impactful.

We invite you to subscribe to “Preparedness in Your Pocket.”

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with others to help spread awareness in your community.

Kendal

I appreciate the invitation to spread the word, which again brings this whole conversation full circle.

At the beginning, I said that we really believe that sharing is caring. So share this information that we’ve shared here collectively with those that you love.

Thank you again to both of you and to all of our listeners for listening with us here until the end.

Until next time, thank you for joining us for this episode of “Preparedness in Your Pocket.”

We appreciate being guests on this podcast, and connecting Maryland to MdReady.

Sign up or update your alerts based on language and preferred location(s).

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This podcast was brought to you by the Maryland Emergency Preparedness Network, formed in partnership with the Maryland-National Capital Home Care Association and the Office of Preparedness and Response within the Maryland State Health Department.