[EAS] New EAS Forum posting: A vision for what to do now that the FCC has eliminated the GMC

[Richard_Rudman]

Thanks to Ed, Bill, Mike and Tom so far for views on what should happen first. I certainly agree that training is important, but I think we first have to agree on exactly what EM community warning training needs to accomplish that current training does not accomplish. At this time I remain unconvinced that warnings are truly integrated into the practice of emergency management as an essential and valuable first response resource. IC247 can be improved.

I have a great deal of respect for the expertise and professionalism of emergency managers, but I personally believe there is still too much of a disconnect between the warning resource as it relates to overall emergency management. I'll give you a good example. I doubt that those in charge when a gas main explosion happens would fail to immediately dispatch key first responders. But, as over 60 years of warning research has documented, warnings fail most often at the origination point. CAP can and will help, but operational changes have to happen too.

The research I refer to resides at the Natural Hazards Center of the University of Colorado at Boulder. When the Partnership For Public Warning (PPW) was founded in 2001 we drew heavily on this repository for reports. Many of them were authored by someone I consider to be one of the foremost experts in the field, Dr. Dennis Mileti, Professor Emeritus at the U of C, Boulder. Dennis was also a key supporter and member of the PPW.

I would suggest that anyone interested in the priceless body of  knowledge accumulated on warnings at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the work of Dr. Mileti check out these links:

http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/research/qr/
http://urbanearth.gps.caltech.edu/about-2/dr-dennis-s-mileti/ 

We can discuss the merits of what happens first "post GMC", but if there is one overall vision coming out of this discussion that I'd like to see:

When emergency managers everywhere treat warnings as a key element of first response, we will be a lot closer to winning the hearts and minds of Part 11 entities so they will willingly volunteer to carry all EAS events in their local EAS plans. If this happens, people at risk will receive better, timely warnings that can help save more lives and property.

Thanks,

Richard Rudman

On Jan 14, 2012, at 3:33 PM, Tom Spencer wrote:

>Certainly when the FCC opened up EBS for local and regional alerting, 
>the state, county, and municipal agencies should have been brought on 
>board with what it is and how to activate it, rather than leaving it up 
>to the discretion of the stations.