FEMA toolkit to help local authorities develop effective alerts, warnings

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has released the “Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Planning Toolkit” to help local authorities to develop an effective program for alerts, warnings, and notifications.

IPAWS is a national system that provides authenticated emergency and life-saving information to the public through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, radio, and television via the Emergency Alert System, and through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio.

The toolkit will help public safety agencies minimize alerting delays; plan for future alerts, warnings, and notifications enhancements; facilitate interoperability across different technologies; and improve information sharing among emergency management and public safety officials.

FEMA developed the toolkit in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). It consists of three documents: the IPAWS Lab Fact Sheet, IPAWS Frequently Asked Questions, and the IPAWS Train the Trainer Guide. The toolkit was produced based on the collection of successful practices and lessons learned from more than 100 emergency managers, public information officers, alerting originators and administrators, and alerting experts.

IPAWS allows alerting authorities to write their own message using commercially available software that is Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) compliant. The message is then sent to the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS OPEN), where it is delivered through multiple communication pathways.