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10/15/2011 7:09 AM 

The first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will occur on Nov 9 at 2 pm ET and last for about 3 minutes, according to Damon Penn, of National Continuity Programs. Though an emergency warning system has been in place in the U.S., in various forms since the 1950s, and is tested in each state on a weekly and monthly basis, there has never been a nationwide test of the system. (EAS and the earlier EBS and CONELRAD systems have yet to be used for an actual Presidential nationwide alert.)

What may sound somewhat routine to individuals (who are used to local tests) will actually be the culmination of years of effort by hundreds of people, new software, infrastructure improvements and a complete system for getting out alerts in a truly modern way.

For a bit of the technical background to the new Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS-OPEN) software and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) infrastructure see my earlier post. CAP is an open, standards interchange format to send or collect data related to all types of emergency warnings. CAP standards facilitate receipt and delivery of local, regional and national level reports to a variety of information-management and warning dissemination systems.

MyStateUSA, is used throughout the state and is CAP 1.1 compliant. Vashon should be getting limited MyStateUSA access itself soon! Extensive background info on the EAS Test can be found in the EAS Toolkit.

Washingtonians should be especially proud since our state’s Telecommunications and Warning Systems Manager, Don Miller, KE7UUK, according to this RadioWorld article, has been long involved in a leadership role as co-chair of the State Emergency Communications Committee, as a board member of the Partnership for Public Warning - which developed CAP and promoted its federal adoption. He provided me these slides of the state system, from his National Alliance of State Broadcasters Association webinar earlier this year. He also presented a great EAS to CAP Migration in Washington State webinar. Numerous other IPAWS presentations exist on the FEMA website.

When you listen to the radio or TV on November 9th at 11 AM, you should now appreciate a bit more what’s gone into this! As the Federal, State, tribal, territorial and local governments prepare for and test their capabilities, this event serves as a reminder that everyone should establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves, their families, communities, and businesses.

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Tags: software , Vashon , WEMD , WA , US , FEMA , KCOEM

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