Hubbardston committee reviews emergency messaging: CERC templates, reverse 911 limits and accessibility gaps

At a recent Town of Hubbardston emergency management committee meeting, staff presented a draft communications guide based on CDC CERC (Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication) and reviewed how messages should be tailored by platform.

The director said she printed regional CERC templates and encouraged the committee to prepare prewritten messages for email, reverse 911, electronic signboards and poster postings. “If you just go to the CDC site and you just type in CERC in capital letters, then it will come up,” the director said while describing examples the region has circulated.

Members raised concerns about technical limits: one member noted text alerts are constrained (about 140 characters) and that reverse 911 systems sometimes cannot deliver full content or targeted text; another said some systems now offer language translation options. The committee also discussed reaching residents without internet or smartphones — older residents and people with sensory disabilities — and whether reintroducing low‑tech alerts (sirens, posted neighborhood signs) would improve coverage.

The meeting produced several follow‑ups: compile platform‑specific message templates, create a neighborhood posting list for low‑tech distribution, check whether the town’s reverse 911 supports language selection and accessible audio content, and verify the status of the town’s electronic signboard for emergency use.

The committee will continue refining the communication guide and coordinate with regional partners to adopt consistent, accessible messaging ahead of the fall and winter storm seasons.