Case Study: Bartholomew County achieves life-saving, targeted emergency alerts with Everbridge

Improving Emergency Preparedness and Communications with Everbridge

Bartholomew County, Indiana (pop. ~76,000) faces frequent natural and human-made threats—floods, tornadoes, severe weather, missing children and other emergencies—that require fast, reliable communication to both internal responders and the public. After a damaging 2008 flood exposed gaps in public notification, the county sought a more functional system to deliver critical information to elected officials, dispatch, law enforcement and residents at a moment’s notice.

The county implemented Everbridge to send multi-channel, geo‑targeted alerts to preconfigured groups and polygon-based townships, and added SMART WEATHER to automate weather warnings. The platform is used for internal coordination, staffing notices, large events and public warnings; it improved situational awareness, reduced human error and enabled rapid, precise outreach. A notable result: a missing seven-year-old was found within minutes after a one‑mile targeted alert was sent—an outcome county leaders say justified the investment.

Bartholomew County

Ed Reute

Emergency 911 Director