Transcript Slide 1

Nationwide EAS Test
Information Briefing
November 3rd, 2011
About the EAS
 EAS was established in 1994 as a replacement for the EBS.
– EAS predecessors date to 1951 and the CONELRAD system
– The President has never activated the national-level EAS
– A nationwide test has never been conducted
 EAS’ primary purpose is to enable the President to notify the Nation during a national
emergency
 EAS is maintained in partnership between FEMA, FCC, NOAA, and private sector
communications providers
– Per FCC rules, the following communications service providers (EAS Participants)
must participate in a nationwide EAS activation:
• Broadcast radio and television stations
• Cable television systems
• Satellite radio and television (e.g., Sirius/XM, DirecTV)
• Wireline video service providers (e.g., Verizon FiOS)
– FEMA maintains the infrastructure for issuing national emergency alert messages
– EAS participants voluntarily transmit State and Local alerts, as well as any initiated
by the National Weather Service (NWS)
– NOAA maintains interoperability with the National Weather Service systems
About the EAS
The EAS is the alert and warning backbone
– Can reach more people in more places with a single alert message
– Can provide detailed emergency information to millions of people in a
short period of time
– Is in a full state of readiness at all times
– Is resilient -- remains operational when other communication pathways fail
– Has proven valuable in rural communities and post-disaster response
The Evolution of Emergency Alerting
Personal Localized
Alert Network
1951 - 1963
1963 - 1997
1997 - 2006
CONELRAD
EBS
EAS
Originally called the “Key
Station System,” CONtrol
of ELectromagnetic
RADiation (CONELRAD)
was established in August
1951.
Participating stations tuned
to 640 & 1240 kHz AM and
initiated a special
sequence and procedure to
warn citizens.
EBS was intended to
address the nation with
audible alerts. Did not
allow targeted messaging.
Was upgraded in 1976 to
provide better and more
accurate alert handling.
Originally designed to give
the President a way to
communicate with the
American Public.
Expanded for peacetime
use at the state and local
level.
2006
IPAWS
EAS, jointly coordinated
between FEMA, FCC, and
NWS.
IPAWS modernizes and
integrates the Nation’s alert
and warning infrastructure.
Designed for the President
to speak to the American
people within 10 minutes.
Integrates new and existing
public alert and warning
systems and technologies
by adopting new alert
information exchange
format - the Common
Alerting Protocol (CAP)
EAS messages composed
of 4 parts:
• Digitally encoded header
• Attention Signal
• Audio Announcement
• Digitally encoded end-ofmessage marker
Gives authorities a broader
range of message options
and multiple
communications pathways
Integrated with NOAA to
distribute weather and
local alerts to broadcasters
Information Source: The Broadcast Archive
Maintained by: Barry Mishkind , The Eclectic Engineer
The Nationwide EAS Test
First Nationwide EAS Test -- November 9, 2011 at 2 p.m. EST
Purpose: To assess how well EAS would perform its primary function – to
alert the entire public during national emergencies.
Per FCC rules:
-- All EAS Participants must participate in nationwide testing
-- EAS Participants must submit test result data by December 27, 2011
The test is diagnostic in nature
What will the public hear and see on November 9th?
The test will be similar to local EAS tests conducted monthly by
individual EAS participants and local officials…
…with three key differences:
1. It will be on all radio and television stations. Local tests are
typically on one station at time
2. It will last approximately 30 seconds. Local tests are typically 1-2
minutes
3. During the test, the message crawl on television screens will not
indicate “Test.” However:
• Most broadcast television stations, DIRECTV, DISH Network,
AT&T U-Verse, and Verizon FiOS will insert a background
image on the screen saying, “This is only a test.”
• Cable television systems may not be able to display a similar
background image
Nationwide EAS test –audio message:
The text that will be announced on all participating channels:
“This is a test of the Emergency Alert System. [PAUSE] This is
only a test. The message you are hearing is part of a nationwide
live code Test of Emergency Alert System capabilities. This test
message has been initiated by National Alert and Warning
authorities in coordination with Emergency Alert System
participants, including broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline
participants in your area. Had this been an actual emergency, the
attention signal you just heard would have been followed by
emergency information, news, or instructions. Remember, this is
only a test. The Emergency Alert System is also used by State,
Territorial, Tribal, and Local authorities to alert and warn the public
and provide important emergency response information.
Remember, this is only a test. … [repeat of above] … This has
been a test of the Emergency Alert System”
Sample television screen display variations:
Test Preparations
FEMA and the FCC have been engaged in planning, pre-testing, and outreach
activities for the nationwide test since 2009.
Public Outreach activities began in June:
• FEMA and FCC press releases
• FCC website: www.fcc.gov/nationwideeastest
• FEMA Blog Posts: http://blog.fema.gov/2011/10/emergency-alert-system-testone-month.html
• FCC Consumer Factsheet and Guide
• FCC and FEMA Frequently Asked Questions
• Audio and Video Public Service Announcements in English and Spanish with
captioning
• Working with broadcast and cable networks to air announcements before and/or
after the test to tell viewers that this is, in fact, a test
Test Preparations, cont.
Public Outreach activities, cont:
• Webinars, roundtables, and briefings with EAS Participants and government
agencies
• Newsletter blurbs and other test-related information materials for consumer and
community organizations and government agencies, including 911 Call Centers
Information documents published:
• FEMA EAS Best Practices Guide
• FCC Nationwide EAS Test Handbook for EAS Participants
• FEMA EAS Test Informational Toolkit
Next Generation Alerting – FCC Initiatives
• Deploy CMAS/PLAN in New York City by the end of the year,
nationwide starting in April 2012.
• FCC rulemaking to implement the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
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Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
 The FEMA IPAWS Program is the Department of Homeland Security’s
response to Executive Order 13407
 FEMA, in partnership with the FCC, NOAA, and the private sector is
implementing “the policy of the United States to have an effective, reliable,
integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the
American people...and to ensure under all conditions the President can
communicate with the American people.”
 IPAWS integrates new and existing public alert and warning systems and
technologies to provide local, State, territorial, tribal, and Federal government
alert and warning officials access to broader range of message options and
communications pathways for the delivery of alert and warning information to
the American people before, during, and after a disaster.
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IPAWS Vision
“Timely Alert And Warning To American Citizens In
The Preservation of Life And Property”
Integration of public alert communications systems:
Facilitate single emergency alert message delivery to all
available public dissemination channels
EAS
Easier to use for alerting authorities
CMAS
Improves and Enhances emergency alerting capability in
two critical ways:
– increases reliability that affected citizens receive an alert via at least one path
– increases likelihood that citizens react to emergency alerts
IPAWS Architecture
Standards based alert message protocols, authenticated alert message senders, shared, trusted access
& distribution networks, alerts delivered to more public interface devices
Alert Disseminators
Alerting
Authorities
(public alerting systems)
Territorial
Federal*
* Includes NOAA
IPAWS compliant
CAP Alert
Origination Tools
IPAWS compliant
CAP Alert
Origination Tools
Emergency
Emergency Alert System
AM FM Satellite Radio;
Digital, Analog, Cable, and
Satellite TV
Alert
Aggregator/
Gateway
IPAWS
OPEN
the Message Router
(Open Platform for
Emergency Networks)
CAP messages
Tribal
CAP messages
Local
State
American People
Commercial Mobile Alert
Service (CMAS)
(aka PLAN)
cell phones,
pagers
Commercial
Mobile
Networks
web browsers,
widgets, web sites,
social media
Internet Services
NOAA
HazCollect
State / Local Unique
Alerting Systems
NWS
FM RBDS
ETN
Siren
Digital Signage
Future Technologies
More Information?
Please Visit:
FCC’s Nationwide EAS Test website at
www.fcc.gov/nationwideeastest
FEMA Blog on the Nationwide Test
http://blog.fema.gov/2011/10/emergency-alert-system-test-one-month.html
IPAWS National EAS test page
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/eas_info.shtm
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