FCC: Presidential emergency alerts to be tested
Federal News Radio
Everybody has heard the national Emergency Alert System (EAS). Those familiar “duck calls” that reassure listeners “THIS is a test…this is ONLY a test…”
The FCC is planning an upgrade to the tests by including presidential announcements in the system.
Lisa Fowlkes, deputy chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC, explained to the Federal Drive the Presidential Alert isn’t new.
“The primary goal is to provide the President with a mechanism to communicate with the American public during times of national emergency,” said Fowlkes. The change, she said, is that prior to last week’s order there was no rule in place to call for or allow a test from top to bottom.
Fowlkes said, “There’s never been a test from top to bottom where it’s issued by FEMA and it goes straight down to all the different levels of EAS to the American public. So this is a way for us to glean, okay, if there were an actual emergency and the federal government needed to activate the Presidential EAS, making sure that it actually works the way it’s designed to.”
Now that there’s a rule in place, the next challenges are going to be working with all the stakeholders on timing of the test and to reach out to the public so they understand it’s a test and not a real emergency, Fowlkes said.
“We want to make sure that it works the way it’s designed to,” Fowlkes said. “If there are things that work well, great. If there are things that don’t work well, we can work with EAS participants and with state and local governments as well as our federal partners to correct or or improve what doesn’t work.”
Wild Thing’s comment…….
What is the point of this other than to spend more money and to make sure he puts himself in the minds of all the people?
Obama setting himself up to be Dear Leader. As for “Abuse of power”, Obama knows no bounds!
We are getting sick and tired of hearing and seeing you or anything to do with you. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!
Just like the Saddam era in Iraq, we will be bombarded with his face & voice on every channel (oh wait, that already has happened)!!!! Every freakin day obama’s voice is everywhere; on the hour every hour the newscasters are playing snippets of him.
There isn’t a cable channel that I can watch that his slimy, crook face doesn’t show up on! Hearing his voice during an emergency will NOT calm me down, not at all.
Another Why this? Is this in case he shuts down the internet? so he can dictate to us what we are suppose to do?
Buy more ammo, you may need it.
Wow, that’s exactly what we need: in the middle of a huge emergency, being cut off from the internet so we can hear Obama’s version of events!
Brrrr! Scary.
Mark, ditto that, a why this sure happens a lot with obama in charge. sheesh
Eddie, yesss we do.
Eddy Burke, well said, that is exactly what could happen too.