RENO -- Today, the county’s emergency operations center will use its new emergency alert system ‘Code Red,’ a voice recorded message alerting citizens of a current disaster and how to handle it.

The exercise is just a test to call 290,000 land lines from Incline Village to Gerlach and County Emergency Manager Aaron Kenneston says one reason for the test is to see how long it takes.

“So once we push the button,” says Kenneston, “every phone in Washoe County will receive a call verifying that they are in the database.”

If disasters like earthquakes, fires or floods occur, the regional emergency operations center is divided into five different color coded sections to aid relief.

The planning section figures out strategies for the next day and passes them along to the operations section.

When operations decides resources, like sand bags, are needed, they go to logistics who figures out where to get the sand bags from.

Meanwhile, the financing section balances the budget while management oversees all operations.

“Anytime there is a community wide disaster that would require citizens to leave their house or be aware of the disaster, we use the reverse 911 dialer,” says Kenneston.

When need be, the seats are occupied by Reno and Sparks city employees along with Washoe County workers and regional partners like the airport and transportation commission.

Kenneston says he prefers going door to door or using media alerts, but the center will have to be used when necessary.

“We’re very cautious and very sparing in the use of this system,” says Kenneston. “We only use the system when a first responder, on the ground, says we need to notify this community, they are at risk.”

He says everyone should develop their own emergency plan by creating their own disaster supply kit and staying informed about potential hazards.