Public Alert & Warning - A national Duty, a National challenge

Between 1975 and 1995 “twenty-five thousand Americans died and more than a hundred thousand were injured in natural disasters…,” costing the nation an average of one billion dollars each week and consuming nearly one percent of GDP. Terrorist attacks such as those on September 11, 2001 add to the costs by taking lives, destroying property and disrupting the fabric of American life.

More timely and effective public alert and warnings would save lives, reduce property loss and speed economic recovery. Unfortunately, despite a public perception that an effective national alert and warning system exists – it does not. Existing systems fail to reach many people at risk while warning and alarming many who are not at risk. A lack of leadership and cooperation among the key stake holders has led to systems that are fragmented, unable to target only those people at risk, provide inconsistent messages and information, and lack coordination and interoperability.

Fortunately, it is possible to develop a national, all-hazard public alert and warning capability in the near future for relatively little money. The Partnership for Public Warning has, with the assistance of experts from government and industry, developed a national strategy and plan that can be implemented in 24 months at a cost of approximately $9 million – less than 5 cents per citizen.

In May 2003 the Partnership for Public Warning published “A National Strategy for Integrated Public Warning Policy and Capability” to assess the state of public warning in the United States and to set forth a vision and road map for developing and implementing an effective and integrated, all-hazard public warning capability. After extensive analysis, the national strategy concluded that building an effective national public alert and warning capability is not a technology problem – the technologies exist to provide warnings to people wherever they are, at any time of day or night and in a language they understand. The problem is one of people, policy, education and leadership. The strategy recommended a national, all-hazard approach employing multiple distribution technologies. Achieving this goal will require federal leadership; building upon existing legacy systems, standard protocols, terminology, policies and metrics; training for emergency managers; public education and funding. Most importantly, the strategy concluded that warning is a public responsibility -- shared by local, state and federal governments -- that relies upon private sector technologies and infrastructure. Developing an effective national alert and warning capability requires communication, cooperation and consensus among the key stakeholders – both public and private.

In August 2003 the Partnership for Public Warning released a draft plan for implementing the above strategy. The goal of this plan, entitled “Implementing the Vision”, is to create a national consensus on a national, all-hazard public warning capability while providing the standards, policies and relationships necessary to forge that capability. The plan will be pursued under the leadership of the appropriate federal agency (or agencies) and will include the active participation of all public and private stakeholders interested in alert and warning issues. The plan includes five detailed task areas: (1) Collaboration and Consensus; (2) Existing Infrastructure Assessment; (3) Interoperability and Integration; (4) Creating a National Alert and Warning Capability; and (5) Education and Awareness. The products of this process include a national consensus on an all-hazard public alert and warning system; a pilot project of the proposed architecture; a national clearinghouse on alert and warning; standards, policies and metrics; training for emergency managers and a public education campaign. For more information, see the slides»

Future tragedies – whether natural or man-made – are not a matter of if, but when. Lives can be saved and losses reduced through effective public warning. The nation has a responsibility and the technologies to meet that challenge. The strategy and plan demonstrate that this goal can be achieved within a short period of time for relatively little money. The time is ripe to forge a public-private partnership to ensure that every person will have the information needed in an emergency to save lives, prevent injury, mitigate property loss and minimize the time needed to return to a normal life.

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