[EAS] New EAS NPRM now posted on the EAS Forum Website

[Richard Rudman]

Brian/All:

Agreed: Getting the EM community on board is not something the FCC can do, and maybe should not do.

I joined NEMA last year for the express purpose of evangelizing the simple fact that ALL public warning systems can help the EM community at a time when they need it most, during what is called in "EM Speak" the Response phase of the emergency. When I talk to EM audiences, the first thing I ask them is a question:

"Are there some things during early Response that you would like the public to do or not do that would help bring the event to a better and faster status?"

All the hand go up, and that's my entre' to tell them about:

1.  Standing up proactive procedures as part of their Response to do just that.

2. Using CAP origination tools can let them do just that for all public warning systems, including social media.

The subtext is simply that public warnings simply have to be built into Emergency Response as a true resource in their own right, just like fire strike teams, emergency food and water, and other physical resources.

When I am told that "We simply do not have the staff to do this..." here is my answer:

Mutual Aid. If regional mutual aid is set up with a goal of assisting all EM's in a given region then you have a really powerful tool.

I have met some EM's who not only "get" this, but are practicing what I am talking about already, so there is hope.

Long term evangelistic goal: Get all this written in stone in FEMA's NIMS (National Incident Management System) that will pull in more people since NIMS training is a requirement for state and local agencies to get reimbursed by FEMA during incidents where FEMA is called in.

I have brought this concept to the attention of some of the FEMA people I know through IPAWS who told me this concept has been brought to Craig Fugate's attention, and have even written a Comment to a FEMA item to this effect. 

To specifically answer Brian's well-taken point: You can do a cost/benefit analysis and it comes out looking good -- when you factor in the potential of saving more lives and property by telling a public at risk to take timely protective actions when it counts!

Richard Rudman

On Jun 27, 2014, at 10:31 AM, Brian Law wrote:

>>  Only thing is, there is not a way to get EM's on board, and to me, that is more important right now than national alerting.