NHC template

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PROTECTING AMERICA THROUGH PUBLIC ALERT
WARNING NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE APRIL 6,
2004 Kenneth B. Allen Executive
Director Partnership for Public Warning
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PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC WARNING

• A non-profit, public-private partnership
• Established in January 2002 by leaders of the
  emergency management community
• Participants include emergency managers and
  warning experts from local and state government,
  the private sector, non-profit community and
  federal government
• Provides a collaborative forum where all the
  stakeholders are working together

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PUBLIC WARNING Objective (1) alert people
at risk (2) provide
timely, relevant accurate
information
(3) protective actions Success The
actions people take Benefits Save
lives, reduce property losses speed
economic recovery
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• PUBLIC WARNING IS A SYSTEM
• NOT A TECHNOLOGY
• Data collection analysis
• Decision to issue a warning
• Framing the warning
• Disseminating the warning
• Public reception
• Validation
• Take
  Action

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CURRENT US PUBLIC WARNING CAPABILITY
MULTIPLICITY OF THREAT SCALES air
quality, asteroids, computer viruses,
earthquakes, floods,
hurricanes, nuclear plants, terrorism,
tsunamis, volcanoes, winds
DISSEMINATION CHANNELS
NWR, EAS, TV radio, local systems
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STATE OF US PUBLIC WARNING CAPABILITY

• Fragmented
• Inconsistent scales
• Lack of standard terminology
• Voluntary
• Dependent on TV Radio
• Lack of clear policies procedures

• Fail to warn those with special needs
• Lack of funding
• Little public awareness
• No strategy or vision
• Lack of leadership

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THE BOTTOM LINE

• Existing systems fail to reach many people at
  risk and reach many people not at risk.
• When an emergency happens, many individuals fail
  to get timely information, fail to understand or
  act on the information and dont know where to go
  for additional information

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CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC WARNING
CAPABILITY

• All hazard
• Take advantage of existing assets (e.g. NWR
  EAS)
• Doesnt put anyone at risk
• Supports multiple warning sources
• Individually addressable
• Only authorized officials may enter warnings
• Enhance local control
• Secure, redundant available 24/7

• Open, non-proprietary architecture
• Uniform terminology
• Clear consistent messages
• Support multiple languages users with
  disabilities
• Available during power outages
• Multiple distribution channels using multiple
  technologies
• Easily understood by public

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CREATING AN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC WARNING CAPABILITY

• Not a technology problem
• Solution requires
• Collaboration consensus
• Enhancement of legacy systems
• Standards
• Policies procedures
• Education
• Leadership

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PPW ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Educated senior government officials the public
• Homeland Security Advisory System
• Emergency Alert System
• Common Alerting Protocol
• National strategy plan for improving public
  warning
• www.PartnershipforPublicWarning.org

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ESTABLISH A NATIONAL GOAL

• Create a national public warning system that will
  provide people at risk during times of emergency
  with timely and useful information that will
  enable them to take appropriate actions to save
  lives and property.

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THE CHALLENGE

• To collaborate on the development of a national
  public warning capability that will, during times
  of emergency, get the right information to the
  right people at the right time, regardless of
  their location, the time of day or night and any
  special needs.