This paper evaluates the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Emergency Alert System (EAS), examining its role in broadcasting disaster warnings to the public through broadcasters and cable television. Drawing on FEMA's official website, the paper identifies key technical shortcomings of the EAS — including sound-quality distortions and limited reach — and proposes a supplementary SMS-based alert system that leverages satellite tracking and mobile phone IMEI codes to notify individuals within designated danger zones in real time. The paper also reviews the FEMA website's usability and discusses the agency's planned partnerships with the FCC and NOAA to strengthen future alert capabilities.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the body entrusted with alert dissemination, evacuation coordination, and the management of disaster situations. Its website addresses emergency issues and describes how the agency typically responds to disasters. The portal examined in this paper covers the use of technology to advance alert systems for the general public during an impending disaster. The alert system used by FEMA and several partner agencies will be the central focus of this paper, with a detailed look at how successful those systems are and how they might be improved to ensure a higher success rate in the future.
The approaching-disaster alert system described on the FEMA website is known as the Emergency Alert System (EAS). This system allows alerting authorities to pass messages to broadcasters, who then relay the alerts to the public. It is designed to serve as a communication channel when all other means of communication are unavailable.
As noted on the website, several technological problems affected the EAS during testing. The primary technical issue involved the quality of sound transmission: distortions degraded the audio, introduced echoes, and compromised the clarity of the alert message upon broadcast.
Taking into account the technical problems likely to be experienced with the existing alert systems, compounded by the EAS's inability to reach every individual regardless of location — given its heavy reliance on cable television — there is a clear need for a backup plan that enables a quicker and broader response to emergencies.
There is a need for a system that bridges the gap left by the existing alert infrastructure, which depends on sound and television to deliver warnings. From an information technology perspective, the agency needs to implement a short message service (SMS) that activates immediately when a disaster is imminent.
The proposed system would utilize satellite tracking technology and mobile phone IMEI codes to deliver warnings directly to individuals located within a disaster-prone area at any given time. To accomplish this, FEMA would need to liaise with various mobile service providers. Whenever an emergency is imminent, the satellite tracking system would identify all mobile phones switched on within the danger zone designated by authorities. Once those devices are identified, a warning message would be sent to each phone.
This proposed alert system would be more effective and deliver information at a more personal level than the existing system, directly addressing the coverage gap that the current EAS leaves. An SMS-based cell phone alert would reach more people within the danger zone, including those away from office desks and television screens — people working in fields, forests, or other remote locations would also receive the warning. Furthermore, such a system is self-propagating: recipients who receive the alert are likely to contact relatives or acquaintances who may be traveling toward the danger zone, thereby extending the warning's reach even further.
"Usability and information quality of FEMA site"
"FCC and NOAA collaboration to improve alerts"
FEMA. (2012). Emergency Alert System. Retrieved July 21, 2012, from
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