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 On Thursday evening December 5th, the Concord Neighborhood Network (CNN) and the Concord Police held the first town-wide test of CNN's emergency communication system (see here for more info on this test). Our now-nearly 300 Neighborhood Contacts (NC's) and Alternates located throughout Concord used their neighborhood communication systems. The CCHS radio station (WIQH 88.3 FM) also participated, as did a fledging network of Concord ham radio operators. The Police "DialLogic" automated telephone notification system was used.On the 5th, Police Chief Wetherbee created a scenario duplicating the worst 16 hours of the Blizzard of 1978, during which he was on duty here. CNN had a small team at the Police Station during the test responding to situations as the Chief spun them out. Lights and phones down in a large neighborhood... a pregnant woman in labor on an unplowed side street... Emergency Services no longer able to reach unplowable side streets... an elderly person without heat asking for transportation to a shelter -- all as they happened back then. By using real events, it was immediately clear how CNN would complement and increase our town's emergency response.
"Our neighborhood did participate in the CNN Emergency Communications Test. The test went well. The NC's and Alternate NC's were in contact throughout the evening. We communicated by phone, e-mail and a bit by Family Radio System (FRS). " "Phoning around the neighborhood actually turned out to be a wonderful and surprising experience. I didn't expect my neighbors would be so warm and receptive. Many offered to help: plowing, shoveling, babysitting, and so on. I haven't known so much closeness here since my now-grown children were small."
"I reached all my elderly and young children families or their answering machines. One thing I learned: folks need to have a telephone that is not a portable for a power outage phone chain. The hard-wired phones would still work." "Last Thursday, one of my neighbors phoned the elderly woman who lived next door to him to tell her about the emergency scenario. They hadn't talked in 17 years. She was very friendly and agreed to let him know if she ever had any problems."
"I received a call asking if I would be prepared to trek to a home in a nearby neighborhood to help a pregnant woman in labor prepare for her trip to the hospital. [According to the test, s]ide streets were unmaneuverable, but transportation would be forthcoming. I said I would. (I then spent the remainder of the evening reviving my old snowshoes.)" "I was in Detroit. When the 9/11 attacks hit, I was in Toronto. Email is a good way to handle these things from afar, so long as power and web access are available, but you can't walk to the widow's house to be sure she still has heat." "Although I made it clear that there was no obligation to participate in CNN, we essentially have 100% participation [in our neighborhood]. I think everyone embraces the concept that we all have to contribute to make the chain work, even if that only involves being pleasant to the person that calls you to give you information!"
"Based on the concept of a 'best effort' communication, it's probably important to emphasize that nobody should put themselves in danger (e.g., fallen electrical wires, falling tree limbs, etc.) to hand-deliver a message."
You can find out more about CNN by visiting their Website, phoning 978 318-3443, or emailing cnn@ConcordMA.com.Artwork: Cigar labels depicting winter holiday scenes from the magnificent collection on Cigar Label Junkie.
 
 
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Afterward, we asked our network to let us know if and how they participated. We are very grateful that almost everyone who responded said their neighborhood joined in. Below are snippets from a representative sample of these reports, including a couple from residents outside the network who wished they had been involved.
"People seemed happy to be contacted and appreciative that a network of support was out there for them. We also established a plan for when power is down and the phones are dead -- a signal to be posted on a nearby telephone pole with a message in a waterproof sleeve."
"Our system worked great. The really wonderful part was, I had to be out of town last week so we saw that our plan for the street worked using our "back-up" plan (which is for when I'm not around). The comments I've heard have been great and my neighbors are happy to be a part of the CNN communication system."
"We had no notification of the "emergency" last week. I'm wondering if our apartment building is on the notification list, and if not, [I] would be glad to volunteer as a liaison."