Emergency population warning
Encyclopedia
An emergency population warning is a method whereby local, regional, or national authorities can contact members of the public en masse to warn them of an impending emergency. These warnings may be necessary for a number of reasons, including:
Many local areas use emergency population warnings to advise of prison
escapes, abducted children
, Emergency telephone number
outages, and other events.
coordinated by the United Nations
uses for all systems that are used to send emergency population warnings.
The United Nations relies on the Everbridge Aware Emergency Notification System (ENS) to alert its 10,000 staff to address their safety and security when a critical incident or event occurs.
The United Nations Development Programme uses the Send Word Now Emergency Notification System to alert its worldwide staff when an urgent situation arises.
.
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning (IPAWS) program of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is an attempt to integrate multiple public warning technologies into a coordinated nationwide "system of systems" using the Common Alerting Protocol
. Systems targeted for inclusion in IPAWS include the Emergency Alert System
, the Commercial Mobile Alert System
using cellular telephones and other wireless devices and the National Weather Radio network.
Many states use existing air raid siren
s to warn of tornadoes and flash floods. People living near certain nuclear facilities such as the Hanford Site
in Washington have special radios in their home that are set to broadcast a warning signal in the event of a radiological emergency. Some emergencies (AMBER Alert
s, for instance) are also sent out via e-mail, cellphone text message, and highway signs.
In France, the population warning is made via air raid siren. This network is called the "Réseau national d'alerte" (RNA). The system is inherited from the air-raid siren network (défense passive) developed before World War II
. It consists of about 4,500 electronic or electromechanical sirens placed all over France.
In some cases, the warning signal may be played by a mobile system installed on the fire department's vehicles.
The warning signal is described by décret (by law) of March 23, 2007. It consists in a modulated sound going up and down (up to 380 Hz) during the first minute, and repeated three times. The end of alert is a continuous signal lasting 30 seconds.
The system is tested every month, the first Wednesday at 12 noon; for tests, the modulated signal is played only once.
When the warning signal sounds, people are expected to remain at home or the building they are in and listen to further instructions on radio via France Info
, France Inter
, or local stations.
Instructions may also be announced by police
or fire department vehicles.
, which owns Canada's two major cable weather networks (The Weather Network
and MétéoMédia
), has proposed a national warning system which would be called All Channel Alert. This would work like the American EAS. On June 11, 2009, the CRTC gave Pelmorex full approval of the service, which will serve to complement efforts set forth by the federal government, as well as provincial and local governments.
The Canadian government is currently working on a proposed national public alerting system under the name CANALERT
. It is expected that this system will work closely with private broadcasters and telecommunications operators to enable an all-hazards, all-media warning system based on the Common Alerting Protocol
information standard.
As of November 2010, both All Channel Alert and CANALERT has yet to be launched.
The province of Alberta
has its own system called the Emergency Public Warning System
(EPWS). The EPWS was put into place after a major tornado swept through the city of Edmonton
in 1987, killing 27 and causing millions of dollars in damage. Unlike the American EAS, however, broadcast of the EPWS is not mandatory on radio and television stations. It is broadcast on the CKUA Radio Network and is televised on Access TV
and by co-operating stations. EPWS warnings can be initiated by municipal police and fire departments, the provincial government, county authorities, tribal government agencies, Environment Canada
, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. CKUA developed and maintained the EPWS until January 2010, when the contract was lost to an Ottawa firm.
system launched in 2007 aims to allow government officials to address the population directly via loudspeakers. It aims to cover earthquake, tsunami, volcano, and military emergencies.
The Earthquake Early Warning
system is operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency
. It is capable of delivering warnings a few seconds before S-waves can propagate to distant locations. Warnings are broadcast by radio and television stations, and compatible equipment can automatically turn on when receiving a message. EEW capability is also required for all domestic cell phones sold after 2007.
JMA also issues advisories regarding tropical cyclones in the western Pacific Ocean.
- weather emergencies such as tornadoTornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es, hurricanes, and ice stormIce stormAn ice storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain, also known as a glaze event or in some parts of the United States as a silver thaw. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on exposed surfaces...
s; - geological disasters such as earthquakeEarthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s, landslideLandslideA landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
s; - industrial disasters such as the release of toxic gasGasGas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
or contamination of riverRiverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
water; - radiological disasters such as a nuclear plant disasterNuclear meltdownNuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
; - medical emergencies such as an outbreak of a fast-moving infectious diseaseInfectious diseaseInfectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
; and - warfare or acts of terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
.
Many local areas use emergency population warnings to advise of prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
escapes, abducted children
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
, Emergency telephone number
Emergency telephone number
Many countries' public telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number, sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or occasionally the emergency services number, that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency telephone number may...
outages, and other events.
Requirements
In order to develop an effective emergency warning system, certain things are required:- an agreement as to what constitutes an emergency in the area served by the system. This differs from region to region depending on the local climate, geology, and the like.
- an agreement as to who can initiate an alert. In some countries all warnings are transmitted by a single command centerCommand centerA command center is any place that is used to provide centralized command for some purpose.While frequently considered to be a military facility, these can be used in many other cases by governments or businesses...
, while in others (such as the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) a host of local, regional, and national agencies are authorized to initiate warnings. - a system or systems by which the information can be quickly transmitted to the population.
- an education program to teach the general public how to recognize an alert or what to do if a warning is broadcast.
United Nations program
Early warning system is the term that the International Early Warning ProgrammeInternational Early Warning Programme
The International Early Warning Programme , was first proposed at the Second International Early Warning Conference in 2003 in Bonn, Germany...
coordinated by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
uses for all systems that are used to send emergency population warnings.
The United Nations relies on the Everbridge Aware Emergency Notification System (ENS) to alert its 10,000 staff to address their safety and security when a critical incident or event occurs.
The United Nations Development Programme uses the Send Word Now Emergency Notification System to alert its worldwide staff when an urgent situation arises.
United States
The bulk of emergency warnings in the United States are sent through the Emergency Alert System. The EAS can be activated by national, state, regional, or local authorities, including police, fire, weather, and other governmental authorities. EAS is often activated when an unpredicted emergency such as a tornado, earthquake, or release of toxic gas happens. The vast majority of EAS alerts are generated by the National Weather ServiceNational Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
.
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning (IPAWS) program of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is an attempt to integrate multiple public warning technologies into a coordinated nationwide "system of systems" using the Common Alerting Protocol
Common Alerting Protocol
The Common Alerting Protocol is an XML-based data format for exchanging public warnings and emergencies between alerting technologies. CAP allows a warning message to be consistently disseminated simultaneously over many warning systems to many applications...
. Systems targeted for inclusion in IPAWS include the Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
, the Commercial Mobile Alert System
Commercial Mobile Alert System
The Commercial Mobile Alert System , also known as the Personal Localized Alerting Network , is an alerting network designed to disseminate emergency alerts to mobile devices such as cell phones and pagers...
using cellular telephones and other wireless devices and the National Weather Radio network.
Many states use existing air raid siren
Civil defense siren
A civil defense siren is a mechanical or electronic device for generating sound to...
s to warn of tornadoes and flash floods. People living near certain nuclear facilities such as the Hanford Site
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
in Washington have special radios in their home that are set to broadcast a warning signal in the event of a radiological emergency. Some emergencies (AMBER Alert
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
s, for instance) are also sent out via e-mail, cellphone text message, and highway signs.
France
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It consists of about 4,500 electronic or electromechanical sirens placed all over France.
In some cases, the warning signal may be played by a mobile system installed on the fire department's vehicles.
The warning signal is described by décret (by law) of March 23, 2007. It consists in a modulated sound going up and down (up to 380 Hz) during the first minute, and repeated three times. The end of alert is a continuous signal lasting 30 seconds.
The system is tested every month, the first Wednesday at 12 noon; for tests, the modulated signal is played only once.
When the warning signal sounds, people are expected to remain at home or the building they are in and listen to further instructions on radio via France Info
France Info
France Info is a major French public news radio station, part of the Radio France group. The station is available across the country broadcasting world news 24 hours...
, France Inter
France Inter
France Inter is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of...
, or local stations.
Instructions may also be announced by police
French National Police
The National Police , formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural...
or fire department vehicles.
Canada
As of January 2007 Canada does not have a national emergency population warning system. The private company PelmorexPelmorex
Pelmorex Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcast group. The company operates the broadcasting licence for The Weather Network and its French sister station, MétéoMédia. The Weather Network and MétéoMédia are Canada’s only 24-hour national specialty television networks devoted to weather reporting...
, which owns Canada's two major cable weather networks (The Weather Network
The Weather Network
The Weather Network is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts weather-related news and information 24 hours a day....
and MétéoMédia
MétéoMédia
MétéoMédia is a 24-hour Canadian French language Category A specialty channel and web site, which provides weather information 24 hours a day. It primarily serves viewers in Quebec, although some cable TV systems in Ontario and New Brunswick carry the channel as well. It is available nation-wide...
), has proposed a national warning system which would be called All Channel Alert. This would work like the American EAS. On June 11, 2009, the CRTC gave Pelmorex full approval of the service, which will serve to complement efforts set forth by the federal government, as well as provincial and local governments.
The Canadian government is currently working on a proposed national public alerting system under the name CANALERT
CANALERT
CANALERT was one of the names for the Government of Canada's series of initiatives between 2003–2009 to develop an all-channel national public alerting system. Work began on CANALERT in 2003 with the First Canadian Public Alerting Forum and Workshop and continued with another forum in 2005...
. It is expected that this system will work closely with private broadcasters and telecommunications operators to enable an all-hazards, all-media warning system based on the Common Alerting Protocol
Common Alerting Protocol
The Common Alerting Protocol is an XML-based data format for exchanging public warnings and emergencies between alerting technologies. CAP allows a warning message to be consistently disseminated simultaneously over many warning systems to many applications...
information standard.
As of November 2010, both All Channel Alert and CANALERT has yet to be launched.
The province of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
has its own system called the Emergency Public Warning System
Emergency Public Warning System
The Emergency Public Warning System was a system used in the province of Alberta, Canada until October 2011, whereby local or provincial authorities could warn the public about impending or current emergencies affecting their area...
(EPWS). The EPWS was put into place after a major tornado swept through the city of Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
in 1987, killing 27 and causing millions of dollars in damage. Unlike the American EAS, however, broadcast of the EPWS is not mandatory on radio and television stations. It is broadcast on the CKUA Radio Network and is televised on Access TV
Access (TV channel)
CTV Two Alberta is a Canadian English language entertainment, information, and educational television channel in the province of Alberta...
and by co-operating stations. EPWS warnings can be initiated by municipal police and fire departments, the provincial government, county authorities, tribal government agencies, Environment Canada
Environment Canada
Environment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. CKUA developed and maintained the EPWS until January 2010, when the contract was lost to an Ottawa firm.
Japan
The J-AlertJ-Alert
is a nationwide warning system in Japan launched in February 2007. It is designed to quickly inform the public of various threats. The system was developed in the hope that early warnings would speed up evacuation times and help coordinate emergency response....
system launched in 2007 aims to allow government officials to address the population directly via loudspeakers. It aims to cover earthquake, tsunami, volcano, and military emergencies.
The Earthquake Early Warning
Earthquake Early Warning (Japan)
The is a warning issued just after an earthquake in Japan is detected. The warnings are issued mainly by the Japan Meteorological Agency , and they issue tips on how to react to the warnings.-Introduction:...
system is operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency
Japan Meteorological Agency
The or JMA, is the Japanese government's weather service. Charged with gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Japan, it is a semi-autonomous part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport...
. It is capable of delivering warnings a few seconds before S-waves can propagate to distant locations. Warnings are broadcast by radio and television stations, and compatible equipment can automatically turn on when receiving a message. EEW capability is also required for all domestic cell phones sold after 2007.
JMA also issues advisories regarding tropical cyclones in the western Pacific Ocean.
See also
- Warning systemWarning systemA warning system is any system of biological or technical nature deployed by an individual or group to inform of a future danger. Its purpose is to enable the deployer of the warning system to prepare for the danger and act accordingly to mitigate or avoid it....
(list of types) - HEAROHEAROThe HEARO Local Alert Receiver is an emergency management tool to relay and display informational text messages in English, Spanish, French and German using RDS technology. It notifies local residents in the event of an emergency within a matter of seconds. HEARO carries NOAA weather warnings and...
Local Alert Receiver - Emergency Alert SystemEmergency Alert SystemThe Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
(United States)
External links
- Finnish TV prepares for emergency broadcasts
- ALERT FM- - Commercially available FM radio-based emergency notification system