The test could also help raise public awareness about what to do in a national emergency, similar to the ways in which running a fire drill inside an office building or a school helps familiarize people with the process of an evacuation. 'When we receive those responses, we can take a look at that and identify any weaknesses in the system and any opportunities for improvement,' the spokesperson said. Providers will essentially answer a set of survey questions, asking for the exact time each provider received the test from the integrated public system and the time they transmitted out to cell towers, and whether they encountered any technical issues along the way. wireless providers that participated in the test. 'They're required to report to the commission whether they received the alerts, whether they were able to transmit it back out to the public, whether they encountered any technical issues in the course of sending those alerts out, and the FCC then analyzes that information to determine any opportunities of improvement of the system as a whole,' the spokesperson continued, noting that a similar evaluation process will happen between the FCC and the nine largest U.S. 'So for all EAS participants, and that includes broadcasters, cable companies, satellite TVs, and so forth, they're required to file information with the FCC about how the test went for them.' 'When it comes to evaluating the results of the alerting tests, the FCC is collecting information both from EAS participants and participants in WEA,' a spokesperson for the FCC said Tuesday. But conducting Wednesday's test still allowed them to gather valuable information from the companies that participated. Spokespeople from FEMA and the FCC said both agencies are confident the emergency alert system works as intended for television and radio broadcasts as well as mobile phones. 'So, one of the reasons that you might do something like this is to test the technological limits of the system, to make sure that it's available in that way.' 'If at some point the time comes that we need to put a wireless emergency alert to the entire nation, for some really serious, catastrophic event, the ability to send out messages in little places, smaller counties, smaller geographic areas, is not the same as having the capacity to distribute those messages across the entire system,' Trainor explained. 11, was scheduled in case other emergencies, like extreme weather, prevented it from going forward as planned on Oct. Wednesday's test was conducted to evaluate the technological capabilities of the national alert system to reach and inform as many people as possible in case of a widespread emergency. Since 2015, FEMA has been required under federal law to test the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System at least once every three years, and those tests can involve the Emergency Alert System, wireless alert system, and other alerts and warnings. Every system has limits, and that's why we tell people, when we are giving advice about building warning systems, you don't ever want to rely on just one thing.' Why was the alert system being tested? How many characters you can use, how much you can transmit, how fast you can get it out. 'Like any system, there are strengths and weaknesses. 'We know that they are effective systems,' Trainor told CBS News.

and abroad, to develop their emergency warning systems and procedures. Trainor has worked with government agencies before, in the U.S. 'With the combination, you're going to catch a wide swath of people,' said Joseph Trainor, a core faculty member at the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center, who studies the design of disaster warning systems and how they operate, with a particular focus on mobile warning systems and smart warning systems. This was the third nationwide test of wireless alerts, and the second nationwide test transmitted to all cellphones, FEMA said in a statement.Īs the Wireless Emergency Alert test was sent out to phones, the Emergency Alert System test was sent to televisions and radios. Six previous tests were conducted over the years between November 2011 and August 2021. Wednesday marked the seventh nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Emergency alert messages that made up the test were divided into two groups - the Emergency Alert System for radios and televisions, and the Wireless Emergency Alerts for wireless phones - although both happened at once. The Federal Emergency Management Agency conducted Wednesday's test in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission.

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