The Town of Carman has joined the R.M. of Dufferin and contracted All-Net Municipal Solutions to help them launch its "Connect" emergency system. The app allows the officials to send mass texts, e-mails, and voice messages to citizens in the region, in the case of an emergency.

"The R.M. of Dufferin has used it in the past, and we just recently signed onto it," says Carman Mayor, Brent Owen.

He says the Town has not seen a huge need for it until the boil water advisory issued earlier this month, as their Facebook page could be seen filled with residents asking if there were any updates. Having a more focused alert system can help clear up much of this confusion.

"It is just in it's preliminary stages, and it's going to be a good fit for Carman," adds Owen.

Meantime, in the Municipality of Killarny-Turtle Mountain, the app was launched earlier this year and has been very successful.

CAO, Karen Patterson says, the app was launched because of concerns that the town's emergency siren couldn't be heard by all residents.

The municipality uses the app to notify residents of emergencies like a bridge being out, or something like a water main break, so they can notify residents on specific streets.

"Our new rec manager, Wendy Giesbrecht, uses the app to notify people of new programs or if we don't have enough people for a program we can send out a quick reminder and we usually get a few extra people signing up after that reminder. It allows us to hold more programs."

Patterson did not have a firm number on how many people are using the app, but she says it is catching on. "2018 was a learning year, and we hope the app is used even more in 2019."