While most people hesitate to give out their cell phone numbers for call lists, Kane County officials say the digits are vital to the success of the county’s emergency response initiative.

Last year, Kane County implemented the Code Red emergency notification system, which can make 60,000 phone calls an hour to inform residents of emergency situations or critical community alerts.

While the system includes every listed landline in the county, it does not include cellular telephone numbers, unlisted numbers or Voice Over Internet Protocol listings.

“That’s at least 150,000 residents [who] are out of the loop,” said Kane County Board President Karen McConnaughay, who joined other officials in a press conference last week to raise awareness of the Code Red system.

Kane County has a population of 500,000 people.

“We need everybody to give us their cell phone number,” Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke said. “This system is weak without it.”

Officials said the numbers will be kept confidential and only used for emergency notification purposes.

“They will not end up being sold to a solicitation list,” McConnaughay said.

County officials can use the Code Red system to issue evacuation notices, severe weather warnings, Amber Alerts, boil water notices, bioterrorism threats and flooding notices.

The system is capable of sending messages only to people affected by a particular situation, or, in the case of a widespread emergency like a tornado, to the county’s entire population.

Currently “there are a huge number of people who are not going to get notified because Code Red doesn’t have access to their cell number,” Schielke said.

Kane County Regional School Superintendent Doug Johnson said school officials plan to raise awareness of Code Red by including information in school newsletters, on school Web sites and in brochures.

“We’re truly moving into the 21st century by using the technology available to us to make our community safer,” he said.

Residents who want to add their contact information can go to the Kane County’s Office of Emergency Management’s Web site at www.kcoem.org.

Code Red informational brochures will be available at city halls, libraries and other community meeting locations.