By KLTV Newsdesk –
The UK Government is set to conduct a nationwide test of the new Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 23 April at 3 pm.
The pilot of the life-saving public Emergency Alerts system has already been tested successfully in East Suffolk and Reading.
During the national test, people will receive a message on the home screen of their mobile phone, along with a sound and vibration for up to ten seconds.
The public is not required to take any action, as the sound and vibration will stop automatically after ten seconds.
All people need to do is swipe away the message or click ‘OK’ on their phone’s home screen and continue using their phone as normal.
Testing
The Emergency Alerts system has already been used successfully in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Japan where it has been credited with saving lives, especially during severe weather events.
The UK is planning to use alerts to inform residents of villages being encroached on by wildfires, or of severe flooding.
The government has collaborated with the emergency services and partners, including the Football Association and London Marathon, to ensure that the national test has minimum impact on major events taking place on the day.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden MP, said that getting this system operational with the national test meant that they had another tool in their toolkit to keep the public safe in life-threatening emergencies.
‘Hugely Beneficial’
Dave Walton, Deputy Chief Fire Officer at WYFRS and co-Chair of West Yorkshire Prepared, the region’s Local Resilience Forum, said: “The new alerts system will be hugely beneficial to emergency responders in West Yorkshire during major incidents and emergencies, as it will enable us to get messages out quickly and directly to those who are most likely to be affected.
“In emergency situations, time is of the essence so the quicker we can alert people to any hazards or dangers they may be facing, the better. Systems like this have been used to great effect in other countries for a number of years and have undoubtedly helped save countless lives.”
For those who don’t currently have a mobile phone or compatible device, usual forms of communication will continue to be used by the emergency services, such as local news, radio and social media.
Usage
The Government says Emergency Alerts will transform the UK’s warning and informing capability by working with mobile broadcasting technology.
It will provide a means to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90 percent of mobile phones in a defined area when there is a risk to life and provide clear instructions about how best to respond.
The system will only be used very rarely, and people may not receive an alert for months or years.
Best practice of Emergency Alerts in other countries have shown that they work more effectively in a real emergency if people have previously received a test so they know what an alert looks and sounds like.
Further information about Emergency Alerts, including what they look and sound like, can be found at gov.uk/alerts.