[EAS] HI Alert

[Botterell, Arthur@CalOES]

The Commish published it's preliminary findings pre today's meeting... here's my take-away:

https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2018/db0130/DOC-348923A2.pdf

Human Error:
- Communication between supervisors at shift change failed to provide proper supervision for a no-notice exercise conducted during that shift change.
- Simulated alert telephone call didn't follow SOP, included the words "this is not a drill" in the body, "exercise exercise exercise" at beginning and end.
- The operator who sent the alert said he believed it was an actual attack warning.

Bad software design:
- A single drop-down menu offered both Test and Actual messages as options.
- Confirmation dialog didn't specify that message was going to be "live"... "Are you sure that you want to send this Alert?" message would also have appeared in the process of sending a drill.
- A cancellation was sent to IPAWS within five minutes, but it did not generate corrective messages to the public.

Process/Planning errors:
- An extended delay in retraction resulted from uncertainty as to whether a particular EAS event code (CEM) could properly be used to retract an earlier warning.  (It could and subsequently was, although it wasn't designed for that use.)
- HEMA had no procedure in place for correcting a false alarm.
- Retraction over social media was not effective when alert had gone by EAS and WEA.

There's a hint that Hawaii may have gotten wrapped too tight in a tacit fantasy that they were NORAD... they called PACOM to tell them that there was no alert, which of course PACOM knew better than anyone.  This may have resulted from the decades-old, air-raid siren-oriented attack warning procedures still in place from the feds.  Their attempts to streamline the attack-warning process, understandable under the circumstances, nonetheless backfired.

There's also some uncertainty about the psychological state of the operator who heard "this is not a drill" but didn't hear "exercise exercise exercise"... the operator declined to be interviewed by the commission, but had made a written statement at the time.

Art Botterell
Senior Emergency Services Coordinator, Public Alert and Warning
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
M: (916) 832-4229
O: (916) 636-3872