It’s been almost a year since the District of Muskoka launched its own emergency alert app, but its growth isn’t where the chief of paramedic services and emergency planning wants it to be.
Jeff McWilliam says the app has been downloaded by just under 5,000 people. “That’s a little bit lower than I’d like to have considering we know we have over 60,000 permanent residents,” he says, adding that numbers doubles in the summer. He says the District of Muskoka will continue to promote the app in hopes its userbase grows.
The app was launched in March 2021 as a “compliment” to Ontario’s Amber Alert system, McWilliam explains.
Since then, the app has been used twice: in September when Environment Canada issued an extreme weather warning for the area and in November during the water emergency in Gravenhurst.
“From my perspective, things are working as they should,” McWilliam says. “We have not received any feedback to the contrary.”
He does say the app is not 100-percent perfect, noting that it’s possible people haven’t reached out with their complaints.
“I don’t want this app to be used for everyday things,” McWilliam says when asked about the possibility of the app being expanded. He gives the example of pushing alerts out for a routine road closure or garbage pickup being delayed. He says if they started doing that, it would “devalue the urgency” of the app.
“We really want to push this app to say if you get an alert from this app, you really need to take action if you’re in this area,” he says.
The app is available to download on the Apple or Android stores.