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While Bainbridge was left largely spared from the damage of Hurricane Debby, hurricane season still has several months left, and there is never any guarantee that next time the community will be as lucky next time. With that in mind, Decatur County Fire and Rescue has taken time to remind the public about the importance of keeping informed during a storm. Specifically, using their own phone app.

Deputy Director Jamie Earp spoke to the Post Searchlight about the application, which was conceived in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.

“We realized there was a significant gap in our ability to get information out to everyone,” Earp said. “We were moving this information, we were sharing it through social media accounts, we were doing a lot of different things to share this information, but we also realized that there were things we could do better.”

And so the EMS services began looking into ways to improve their communication with the public, reaching out to the vendor OCV for help in building the app.

The application, Decatur Co EMA, is free to download, and available for both Apple and Android devices. It offers news updates and notifications, the ability to submit damage reports, as well as information on power outages and emergency shelters.

Another feature the app offers is a location feature.

“It also does have a ‘find-me’ feature,” Earp said. “We’ve dealt with a multitude of rescues where, having someone’s exact location would have made the rescue faster… this app has that capability, where you log in there, and you can put your information in there and hit send, you can send it to 9-1-1, you can send it to the rescuers, you can send it to your family member, it doesn’t matter.” This feature has been able to accurately pinpoint a person’s location to within 10 feet, although the service in the area does impact it.

“We encourage people to download the app, to use the app,” he continued. “It is not a fix-all tool.. it is not the thing that’s going to fix every situation, it is just another tool. You should monitor NOAA, or the NWS, or the Weather Channel, apps on your phone… what I’m saying is, put another tool in your toolbox, because it can only benefit you.”