[EAS] California Alert & Warning Guidelines: What's left out

[Richard Rudman]

Government originate alerts, warnings and tests and EAS Participants and WEA providers relay. And, as most of us understand, the relay process is more complex than if warnings were truckloads of coal that just have to slide down a gravity-driven chute.

Plans that only talk about origination tacitly assume that the relay channels are always there and will always work flawlessly. They appear to ignore the public/private nature that many of us feel the alert and warning function has been since the Cold War CONELRAD days.

We also know close working partnerships between EM agencies and EAS Participants are not always the case. A major exception to this is, as I keep reminding everyone, is Washington State.

I believe that there should be sections in all plans that talk about analyzing alerts and warnings after events to assess what worked and what did not. I think this is especially important with EAS due to the voluntary nature of carriage. This is especially important since more and more EM agencies are coming on board with IPAWS. 

A policy that I believe should be in all plans for complex state county and city structures should deal with warning coordination and which agencies should and should not be allowed to issue EAS events. If all 58 cities in Los Angeles County get certified to issue IPAWS messages, we could wind up with situations that will flood people at risk with messages that could well contain conflicting information and interrupt live news coverage that broadcasters and cable systems provide during emergencies.

There also should be wording in Plans that requires the EM community at all levels to assure those of us who relay their alerts and warnings that they are using hardware and third party software solutions that work properly. 

In short, the public alert and warning process is a public/ private partnership and should reflect this essential truth in meaningful descriptions in government plans as to exactly how the EM community relates to those of us who are still volunteering our time and effort to manage the relay function.

Any other ideas on "what's left out?"

Richard Rudman
Vice Chair, CA SECC