Emergency notifications seem to come at the most inconvenient times—in the middle of the night, when we’re immersed in a project, when we’re running behind schedule, or we finally get to sit down to lunch after a hectic morning.

Often, the notification doesn’t require immediate or even any action for most of us, like in the case of a power outage in Location A or a hazardous spill in one of the research buildings. So, it’s understandable why you might be tempted to opt out of receiving alerts on your phone.

But please don’t do it. Your life, or the life of a coworker, patient or family member, could depend on it.

A lot of thought goes into the decision to send out an emergency notification. Cincinnati Children’s uses the RAVE Alert system, which can deliver texts and/or emails to our 17,000+ employees in minutes. Messages can be targeted to individual locations or groups or the entire organization, depending on the situation.

To receive a RAVE message, you must have your cell phone number listed in your MyHub profile on CenterLink. You can still hide it, so it doesn’t show on the screen if you have privacy concerns.

Here is why it’s so important to receive emergency notifications on your cell phone:

• Alerts reach you where you are. You don’t have to be at your computer.
• Some emergencies, like an active shooter or a tornado warning, require immediate action. Seconds count.
• Alerts tell you what to do and where you can get more information about what’s happening.
• Your skills may be needed to help during or immediately after an emergency.
• You may need to avoid the area where the emergency is taking place for your own safety and to avoid congestion that would hamper first responders from getting to the scene.
• Having an Emergency Preparedness plan is a Joint Commission requirement, and effective communications is a critical component of being ready.

During a crisis, it is even more important that we engage as One Cincinnati Children’s, whether it’s to take an active part in assisting our coworkers, patients and families or to simply be aware of the situation and how it could affect hospital operations in the near- and long-term. Please, if you haven’t already done so, take a moment to sign up for RAVE emergency notifications:

• Login in to MyHub.
• Click ‘My Information.’ A slide-out screen will appear.
• Click the blue pencil icon next to the heading ‘Email.’ A new screen will appear labeled ‘My Contact Information.’
• Under the ‘Phone Type’ heading, select ‘Cellular 1.’
• Under the ‘Telephone’ heading, enter your mobile phone number. This mobile number will begin receiving RAVE alert messages and will appear in the CenterLink phone directory.
• To prevent information from appearing on CenterLink, be sure to mark it ‘Private.’ (It will still be added to the RAVE system.)

If you have questions, direct them to emergencyprep@cchmc.org.