> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stratapt.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Emergency Notifications

> Temporarily suspend regular appointment reminders and send a custom mass message to patients affected by a clinic closure or unexpected disruption.

Emergency Notifications let you pause your regular appointment reminder schedule and send a one-time custom message to patients who are scheduled during a specific window. Use this feature when your clinic is unexpectedly closing — due to severe weather, a facility issue, or another emergency.

<Note>
  **Use sparingly.** Sending emergency notifications too frequently can cause your messages to be flagged as spam by mobile carriers. Reserve this feature for genuine disruptions.
</Note>

***

## How It Works

When you activate Emergency Notifications mode, StrataEMR does two things:

1. Suspends all regular automated appointment reminders for the duration you choose.
2. Allows you to manually send a custom text and/or voice message to the affected patients — up to once per day.

Emergency notifications are not sent automatically. You must click **Send Message** or **Place Calls** to trigger each delivery. Patients affected are determined by how many days out from the current date you select — for example, selecting 3 days on a Tuesday targets patients scheduled Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

<Warning>
  **Text messages sent via Emergency Notifications do not allow patient replies.** Patients cannot respond to the message. If two-way communication is needed, direct patients to your clinic phone number in the message script.
</Warning>

***

## Activate Emergency Notifications

1. From the blue Menu Bar, select **Setup**.
2. In the left column, select **Patient Engagement**.
3. In the **Current Reminder Mode** dropdown, select **Emergency Notifications**.
4. In the **Days Out** selector, choose how many days of scheduled appointments to include.
5. In the **Message Text** field, type the text message script you want to send.
6. In the **Phone Script** field, type the voice call script, if you also want to place calls. (Both fields are optional — fill in one or both depending on your reminder settings.)
7. Click **Save** to apply your changes.

A **Patients Affected** list appears to the right. Review it to confirm the correct patients will receive the notification before sending.

***

## Send the Notification

Once your scripts are saved and you've reviewed the patient list:

* Click **Send Message** to send the text notification.
* Click **Place Calls** to send the voice notification.

Both can be triggered together or separately. Emergency notifications are limited to once per day — the buttons will not allow a second send within the same day.

***

## Return to Regular Reminders

When the disruption has passed and you are ready to resume normal appointment reminders:

1. Return to **Setup** > **Patient Engagement**.
2. In the **Current Reminder Mode** dropdown, select **Regular Appointment Reminders**.
3. Click **Save**.

<Note>
  **Do not forget this step.** If you leave Emergency Notifications mode active after the disruption ends, your regular appointment reminders will not go out and patients will stop receiving their scheduled reminders.
</Note>