DID YOU KNOW?
When a space heater is in use inside a home, an extension cord should never be utilized.
Yeah, that’s an easy one. How about this one:
DID YOU KNOW?
The Belmont County Emergency Management Agency’s website has monitoring stations in 11 different communities in the county and displays the temperatures and weather conditions online?
So, did ya? Did ya know? If the answer is no, there are two elves – and two men – who wish to deliver as many safety tips to you and your loved ones, and that’s why they have launched a new social media campaign on the Belmont County’s EMA Facebook page. “E.M.” and “EMmA” are the two toy elves Deputy Director Glenn Trudo uses when producing the latest safety messages.
“Most people don’t realize Belmont County and Monroe County actually lead the state of Ohio in gubernatorial and presidential disaster declarations,” Trudo explained. “That’s one of the reasons why we believed it was a good idea to remind the citizens of Belmont County that winter can be a very hazardous month for us because of the weather we have in this area, and because of the typography.
“I also saw others delivering the same kind of messages in pretty interesting ways so that’s why I believed E.M. and EMmA could do the same for us here in Belmont County,” he said. “Since we started it, we’ve heard a lot of comments from folks in the area and that’s let us know we’ve been pretty successful warning people about some of the No-Nos at this time of year.”
“Elf on the Shelf” has been a for-sale product for decades and has become a strong tradition for families in the Upper Ohio Valley, said Belmont County EMA Director Dave Ivan.
“The reaction has been been very big, and I know one of the first posts actually went viral,” he said. “There have been a lot of likes and a lot of shares, and we’ve even been on the local talk radio station about E.M. and EMmA so that’s helped us get the word out, too. We’ve been working pretty hard on getting awareness out to our neighbors, and this has been huge.
“It’s working and that’s the most important thing,” the EMA director said. “The shares are very important because those broaden the reach of the safety messages. That’s why we’re very happy that the folks at East Ohio Regional Hospital share it every day.”
Serious Messages
Most often Trudo and the elves deliver pointers on Christmas lights, extension cords, and roadway conditions, and that’s because they wish to get you connected for the occasions when storms, floods, and power outages take place in the region.
A Facebook “Like” automatically places the Belmont County EMA in an individual’s newsfeed, and bookmarked website are easily utilized for return visits.
“We’re having fun with the elves but when we have something serious going, we’ll be putting E.M. and EMmA away, that’s for sure,” Trudo confirmed. “We have had some tragedies in this area through the years, so we want to make sure we know how to utilize all of the technology we have at our disposal, and we want to make sure our residents know how to access all of the information we out out there.
“We want people to know about closed roadways, the weather that’s coming at us, and any other information we believe will keep our neighbors safe,” he said. “Our Facebook page is a great vehicle for us to get that information out to people because everyone seems to be on social media. Usually, we get a lot of phone calls when things are going down, but if people know the information is on Facebook, it will save them from making that call.”
And that does include roadway conditions along interstates, highways, and county streets.
“The folks at the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office is in charge of determine the conditions of Interstate 70, I-470, and National Road (U.S. 40), but we have worked with them so we can help get that message out,” Ivan said. “We know the sheriff’s department has developed their own way of getting the word out out those conditions, but if we can help extend that information, well, that’s what it’s all about.
“It’s all about safety,” he added. “If what we do on social media keeps people out of danger, then great, we’ve done our jobs as far as getting the word out to the people.”
