Emergency alert test planned next week

Franklin country residents shouldn’t be alarmed on Wednesday when they see or hear alert messages flash across TV stations, radio stations and video providers.

The alert message will be part of the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and it will take place at 1 p.m. local time Wednesday and last for 60 seconds.

According to the Federal Communications Commission’s website, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett, joined by representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, announced at the FCC’s June 9 agenda meeting that the purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a public alert mechanism.

EAS participants, including Franklin County, currently participate in state-level monthly tests and local-level weekly tests, but no top-down review of the entire system has ever been undertaken.

The FCC, along with FEMA, will use the results of this nationwide test to see how well the EAS works and to work together with EAS stakeholders to make improvements to the system as needed.

“Making sure the EAS works properly is important, especially is we ever, God forbid, have another incident like 9-11,” Franklin County EMA Director Roy Gober said. “This system is designed to get information out quickly an efficiently and can work in many other situations, too, like in the event of natural or man-made disasters.”

According to Charter Communications, which will actively participate in the test, listeners will hear a message indicating, “This is a test.”

Although the EAS test may resemble the periodic, local EAS tests that most people are already familiar with, there will be some differences in what viewers will see on their TV screen. The audio message will be the same for everyone but due to limitations in the EAS, the video test message on cable TV systems will not indicate, “This is a test” due to the use of the live emergency alert code – the same code that would be used in an actual emergency.

The text at the top of the television screen may indicate that an “Emergency Action Notification has been issued” and Charter wants to ensure that all customers, specifically those that are elderly and hearing impaired, are aware this is only a test and there is no need to become alarmed.

For more information regarding the November 9 nationwide EAS test, go to www.fcc.gov/pshs.