Created: 9/15/2009 5:00:07 PM 
YULEE, FL -- In Nassau County, they have Fire and Rescue, Law Enforcement and an Emergency Management service, but no Reverse 911.
Tom Kochheiser is the county's Interim Emergency Management Director. He says in a month that will change.
"Everybody needs it," said Kochheiser. "We have been given a grant that will allow us to be part of the Code Red or Reverse 911 network," added Kochheiser.
For Brandon Stevenson, who lives in a heavily wooded area, that is good news.
"I live in Nassauville, and we have fires during the dry season. This would be great," says Stevenson.
On the other hand, Kevin Harris has more questions.
Harris says," A lot of people have cell phones; who is going to call them?"
Kochheiser says the system allows cell-phone-only users to go to the Nassau Emergency Management website and complete a form, at which point their cell phone number will be added to the list of numbers to call.
The system is simple.
"If there's a danger in a local area or county-wide, we can activate reverse 911 and the residents will receive a call warning them of the impending situation," says Kochheiser.
He says all that's left is to set up policies and procedures before activating the reverse 911 network.
"If it saves one lost child or prevents us from losing one property to a wildfire, it has done the job," says Kochheiser.
Kochheiser says the $18,000 grant will cover the county's expense for being a part of the network for two years. After that, it will be up to the county and taxpayers if they want to pay to continue to be a part of the reverse 911 network.
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