If you have the luxury of internet connectivity in an emergency, Twitter is actually an amazing resource. As of today, the social network will have its Twitter Emergency Alerts system in place for Australia, with around a dozen agencies already signed up. Here’s how to get it.
Emergency Alerts are simple: in a time of crisis, a government agency or emergency services body will send out an Alert Tweet. The Tweet is marked with an orange siren to indicate its importance, and those who are subscribed will either get an SMS alert sent straight to their phone or a push notification for Android and iOS users.
Emergency Alerts are currently active in the US and UK, and now Australia can have access to the service to. That’s particularly helpful given the country’s propensity for catastrophic bushfires every Summer.
Right now, 13 agencies and emergency service organisations have signed up:
- The NSW Rural Fire Service (@NSWRFS): Subscribe
- NSW Police (@nswpolice): Subscribe
- Victorian Police (@VictoriaPolice): Subscribe
- Queensland Police (@QPSmedia): Subscribe
- Western Australia Police (@WA_Police): Subscribe
- South Australian Police (@SAPoliceNews): Subscribe
- Australian Government’s travel advisory (@smartraveller): Subscribe
- The Department of Health (@healthgovau): Subscribe
- Fire & Rescue NSW (@FRNSW): Subscribe
- Country Fire Service South Australia (@CFSAlerts): Subscribe
- The City of Brisbane (@brisbanecityqld): Subscribe
- The City of Sydney (@CityofSydney): Subscribe
- The Australian Red Cross (@RedCrossAU): Subscribe
To sign up to their alerts, all you have to do is visit that agency’s Twitter Alerts page. It’s pretty simple and could really help you out in a jam.
Thanks, Twitter! [Twitter Australia]