[EAS] False alert, WEA, Hawaii

[Clay Freinwald]

Hi Art - 

We have a similar situation here in Washington (a home rule state) where
various counties etc have purchased these 'Front End' systems for alert and
warning.   The lack of standardization may well come back to bite (or has
already) 

As Ted Buehner pointed out last week in our SECC Meeting where training was
discussed....There are a lot of new tools in the 'public warning tool box'
When and how to use them is often not given the attention it should.   I
wonder just how many of these systems include a training module in the
purchase? Perhaps it's an option that some feel they cannot afford?

The Hawaii announcement that 2 people will be required to launch a warning
is a good move in the right direction (It worked for our ICBM systems for
years) ...However this may create a manpower issue for many smaller
agencies.    Here In Washington I can see some local areas opt to have the
State EMD launch warnings out of fear that they might get it wrong etc.

The good news is that Training is on the minds of many that were,
heretofore, closed.     My fingers are crossed.

Clay

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Botterell,
Arthur at CalOES

Clay -

A challenge here in California is that different counties and local agencies
have bought different services for IPAWS alert origination.  That makes
training, likewise, a county-by-county proposition... very inefficient.

And after the fires in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties last week I was
left very troubled by the number of 'failed' IPAWS alerts being submitted.
Clearly the authoring process isn't as streamlined and error-checked as they
could be.

So I'm urging a reconsideration of FEMA's policy of leaving the design of
IPAWS origination tools up to various vendors with no oversight... not as a
substitute for enhanced training but as a way reduce barriers to it.

Art
________________________________________
From: EAS <eas-bounces at radiolists.net> on behalf of Clay Freinwald
<k7cr at blarg.net>

There are many occasions when bad things happen for a good reason....From
what I am reading about the rapid reactions to this situation there a lot of
good may come from it.

Here in Washington State, our SECC - just last week- initiated a process
that will (hopefully) lead to better training and procedures at all levels
of public warnings in our state.   That process is being headed up by
recently retired from NWS, Ted Buehner, who has a firm grasp on the
importance of this issue.  Perhaps (fingers crossed) other states will heed
this wakeup call and do the same.    Historically one of the weakest parts
of our PW systems has been training.   Tons of money gets thrown at new
equipment and technologies but too often training is left out of the
equation.

Another wish - Can we share how we are going to approach training?    Lets
try and avoid having one state come up with a great training program while
another is left in the cold to learn from mistakes all over again.

Clay Freinwald
WaState SECC

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Richard_Rudman

I can believe it, Michael!

Richard
> On Jan 13, 2018, at 5:22 PM, Michael Fleming
<Michael.Fleming at entercom.com> wrote:
>
> Can't believe Fox News, probably others, are replaying the tv 
> broadcast
including the two tone attention signal.

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