[EAS] Blue Alerts Are Back

[Adrienne Abbott]

Sean--
Yes, training for originators is an issue and is what led to the cases
earlier this year where LEW was used instead of CAE for AMBER Alerts.
However, because our stations had enabled the LEW Event Code, they still
received and rebroadcast the AMBER Alerts and the children were all safely
recovered. Yes, I received some blowback from broadcasters who wondered if
we'd changed the AMBER Alert rules. That's part of being the State Chair.
The agency which issued those messages has been carrying out an extensive
CAP EAS training program for new and current employees and so far, it's
working. 

Understand that, in spite of the rules, most of our stations carry all EAS
activations, especially non-weather EAS activations. Due to the large number
of weather warnings during our monsoon season, some stations don't carry
thunderstorm/severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service and
we continue to work with NWS on finding ways to improve this situation. A
few stations will not carry any weather related activations but even those
stations will still carry non-weather activations, including AMBER Alerts.
The only stations which do not carry any local EAS activations are those
which are "hub" stations for satellator networks. 

Each state chair on this list works hard with his/her broadcasters to make
sure they can provide their audiences with good quality EAS messages, within
the limits of our infrastructure. Not every state or local government agency
has access to CAP. We also work with our state and local partners to make
sure they do their part to produce reliable, understandable EAS messages. I
don't think you can make a blanket statement like "the evidence is very few
EAS broadcasters carry any optional events as EAS messages." without
betraying a lack of knowledge. 

We are on this list because we all care about EAS and want to make it
better. 

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair