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After Train Collision and Chemical Gas Release, Message911s Emergency Communication System Helps Heroic Emergency Officials Evacuate Graniteville, SC
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Augusta, GA - March 21st, 2005 - In the pre-dawn morning of Thursday January 6th in the small mill-town of Graniteville, South Carolina a freight train loaded with dangerous chemicals collided with a parked train, sending railcars off the rails and careening backwards. Those close enough to the scene saw not only twisted steel, but also a yellowish-green cloud and smelled an odor wafting from one of the ruptured cars. The odorous substance turned out to be chlorine gas, a substance that in concentrated doses can quickly cause permanent damage to the throat, nose, lungs and eyes and can even be fatal.
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After reviewing the available information, David Ruth, Coordinator of the Aiken County, Emergency Management Division (EMD) logged into his Message911 Emergency Communication System. Using Mesage911 Emergency Communication GIS Technology, Mr. Ruth called Graniteville residents within a specific radius of the wreck with an emergency message. “Message911 enabled me to communicate clear and important instructions to the affected residents of Graniteville.” Within about ten minutes the particular Message911 Emergency Communication System set up for Aiken County quickly sent out over 3,600 emergency calls warning at-risk residents to remain indoors, turn off their heating and air conditioning units, and turn on their TV or radio for further information.
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Shortly thereafter, Teams of HAZMAT health and safety officials descended upon Graniteville and confirmed the worst fears of the town - the ruptured train car was indeed leaking life-threatening amounts of chlorine gas. After a full assessment was made, the assembled local, officials decided to evacuate everyone within a one-mile radius of the crash site. They again turned to Message911 to help them deliver the critical evacuation message to over 3,600 people in potential danger of exposure. There is no way of knowing how many lives were saved or how much suffering was prevented by using the Message911 Emergency Communication System. And while no single notification system such as Message911 which uses the public telephone network is perfect (it was only one of several tools used by EMD) Assistant EMD Coordinator, Paul Matthews, believes the system “was instrumental in alerting people to the enormity of the situation and providing clear instructions on what action to take.”
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Because of the brave efforts of scores of police, fire, emergency and disaster specialist officials, relatively few Graniteville residents were sent to area hospitals and decontamination centers. Unfortunately, no official or single warning system could prevent many people from suffering critical injuries and nine people from being fatally exposed to the chlorine gas in the immediate wake of the accident.
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Message911 CEO Phil Alexander noted that “We are very saddened by the injuries and loss of life this tragedy has inflicted upon Graniteville, but we are also very proud of the positive part Message911 played in possibly preventing additional harm from befalling those in the vicinity of the tragic accident”.
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About Message911
Fully leveraging the broadcast potential of the most powerful communication device ever invented, the telephone, Message911 is easy to use and to access, and it is loaded with must-have features such as, on-the-fly conference calling and guaranteed phone lines. Message911, load proven with over two million phone messages delivered in less than 12 hours, is the battle-tested system that will rapidly and accurately deliver your messages during an emergency. With pricing scaled to fit actual client needs, Message911 provides a stable and proven system used by parent company CallingPost Communications for over nine years. Message911 offers both a client-hosted and vendor-hosted system with one of the largest volume phone call capacities in North America. Headquartered in Augusta, GA, Message911 is committed to providing a superior product and superior customer service.
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Contact Information
Phil Alexander
palexander@callingpost.com
706.312.2211
www.Message911.com
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Copyright © 2007 CallingPost Communications, Inc.
CallingPost, Message911 and the Message911 images are trademarks of:
CallingPost Communications, Inc.
531 Blackburn Drive, Augusta Georgia 30907
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