Helmbrect explains guidelines for CodeRed

Recently, comments on an anonymous posting app, YikYak, have questioned when the college uses its communication alert system. 

According to College Relations Director, Alex Helmbrecht, the emergency alert program called CodeRed, is used only when there is an immediate threat to campus.

Only Helmbrecht and two other College Relations   employees have access to the program and can send alerts, with Helmbrecht as the primary user. 

The program can be used to send alerts on or off-campus, meaning no individual would have to return to campus in order to send alerts. 

“If an incident occurs off campus and it poses an immediate threat to campus, then a message will be sent, Helmbrecht stated in an email. “The President, or designee, initiates that message by contacting myself or another employee in College Relations. Typically, the President, or designee, takes the available information from the Chadron Police Department and Campus Security to assess the unique situation and then a message is sent.”

Alerts sent by the college may appear in email and text, and can also be used as a banner published on the top of pages.

The college uses some pre-built messages, that can be sent without, college relations having to write new messages. 

When asked why the college does not use CodeRed to communicate more commonly, such as when emergency services are dispatched to campus. 

Helmbrecht stated, “While the text message system is an effective communication device, it is unable to segment the audience. So, all messages that are sent through the system are for the entire campus. Non-threatening situations do not pose an immediate threat to campus, so a message is not needed.”

The designees for the program, such as Helmbrecht, and Randy Rhine, CSC president,  use information from the Chadron Police Department and CSC security to decide when a situation is considered threatening to campus.