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SRA International, Inc. Strategy and Performance Group (formerly Touchstone Consulting Group)
During the month of September, AWARE will be hosting a series of posts from guest authors highlighting the five most significant innovations in the field of alerts and warnings in the past decade since 9/11. This post is the second of three on the CMAS Users Trial conducted in San Diego, authored by Stephen Rea, Senior Emergency Services Coordinator of the County of San Diego (California) Office of Emergency Services.
As part of a coordinated effort with Sprint and the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), The County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services (OES) had a unique opportunity to become the first in the nation to test the Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS, also known as the Personalized Local Alerting Network, or PLAN) on a large scale. During the October 2010 trial, over 50 imminent threat and AMBER alerts were generated. These alerts were received by 120 mobile phones preloaded with CMAS software. Our intent was to put PLAN through its paces by simulating large and small disasters ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to hazardous materials spills. Continue reading »
During the month of September, AWARE will be hosting a series of posts from guest authors highlighting the five most significant innovations in the field of alerts and warnings in the past decade since 9/11. This post is the first of three on the CMAS Users Trial conducted in San Diego, authored by Stephen Rea, Senior Emergency Services Coordinator of the County of San Diego (California) Office of Emergency Services.
As part of a coordinated effort with Sprint and the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), The County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services (OES) had a unique opportunity to become the first in the nation to test the Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS, also known as the Personalized Local Alerting Network, or PLAN) on a large scale. During the October 2010 trial, over 50 imminent threat and AMBER alerts were generated. These alerts were received by 120 mobile phones preloaded with CMAS software. Our intent was to put PLAN through its paces by simulating large and small disasters ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to hazardous materials spills. Continue reading »
2 August 2011 –
Thirty-one countries are set to take part next week in a United Nations-backed test of the tsunami early warning system in the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas, which have experienced strong seismic activity over the years, although less frequently than in the Pacific Ocean.The warning system was first established in 2005 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established under the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).The purpose of the exercise to be conducted on 10 August is “to ensure effective communication between regional and national centres and tsunami warning focal points,” according to a news release issued by UNESCO.
The exercise will include sending test messages via electronic mail, fax and the Global Telecommunication System from the Istanbul Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI, Turkey) to all the national centres and tsunami warning focal points in the region.
Interesting article that provides costs associated with sending/testing notification systems ($ 0.09 per text). Also, notice the low rate of participation from staff members (16% as compared to a 83% student participation).
Emergency texts cost thousands to send
By Andrea Hammer
Campus Editor
Publication Date: 04/02/10
Imagine the cost of texting more than 35,000 people. That’s what the University pays every time it sends out an emergency notification.
A prank in which a student was abducted from the bus stop as a joke ended up costing Purdue $7,560 for two text messages to be sent to all 37,004 people on the text alerts list.
According to Carol Shelby, senior director of environmental health and public safety, it costs the University $0.09 for each phone number that receives a message.
Jeanne Norberg, University spokeswoman, said that though the amount of people enrolled changes daily, the enrollment is roughly 83 percent students and 16 percent staff.
There is also cost associated with testing the emergency notification systems.
“Typically, we do have to pay for the test messages as well,” said Shelby. “Similar to the outdoor all-hazards warning sirens, testing the text messaging system is fundamental to ensuring that the system will work when it is needed for mass notification to the Purdue community.”
Norberg said that although messages were originally sent out through the University’s news service, it is now controlled through the Purdue University Police Department.
“We have someone on call 24 hours a day,” Norberg said.
Sometimes students might notice a lapse of an hour or more from the time the incident happened to the time they receive a notification. Norberg said the University sends out a notification after it is realized there’s a threat to safety.
“We send out the alert as soon as we know there is a possible issue of public safety,” Norberg said. “It may be only after investigation do we realize it’s a potential concern and then we send out an alert. The clock doesn’t start when the incident happens; the clock starts when we realize there’s a threat to public safety.”
More at: http://www.purdueexponent.org/?module=article&story_id=20793
WASHINGTON: Federal officials are planning to do the first nationwide test of the broadcast Emergency Alert System. FCC rules now provide for voluntary testing at the state and the local level, but not nationally. The FCC has issued a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to change the rules governing the Emergency Alert System to conduct national testing at least once a year.
Click for more: http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/93250
