Newer Tech Can Help Alerts to Prompt Action
Emergency alerting officials and broadcasters see more information-rich alerts and increased geotargeting as the biggest needs for improving alerting, looking to ATSC 3.0 as a solution, said speakers at the Advance Warning and Response Network’s virtual summit Tuesday. More authorities are including links and additional information in their alerts, and that’s information that can’t be “effectively delivered” using the current emergency alert system, said Wade Witmer, deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Association's Integrated Public Alert Warning System. Last year, there was an almost 200% increase in use of wireless emergency alerts compared with 2019, and a 135% increase in EAS use, Witmer said.
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Nearly every panelist said richer information and more-targeted alerts could help reduce “milling,” a response to emergency alerts identified by social scientists wherein the public tends to search for additional information and confirm details before acting. “Milling is inevitable,” said Denis Gusty, branch chief with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. Alerting officials said more-informative alerts from trusted sources could reduce the time gap between the public receiving emergency info and acting on it. “When you put that information in the first message, it speeds up the whole process,” said Rebecca Baudendistel, New York City Emergency Management Department director-public warning.
Better-targeted alerts can cut down on alert fatigue, and make it less likely the public will opt out of receiving needed alerts, said National Weather Service Physical Scientist Michael Gerber. Technology that allows officials to limit alerting to only the most serious storms and emergency events similarly helps reduce alerting fatigue, Gerber said. ATSC 3.0 can carry more complete information, said WJLA-TV Washington meteorologist Veronica Johnson. WJLA owner Sinclair has been a big 3.0 backer. Johnson suggested 3.0 could allow viewers who want additional information about an emergency to watch it on one stream while allowing those unaffected by the emergency to continue watching their expected content. It could let emergency information be sent to gaming devices or connected cars, she said.
Better alerts can reduce pressure on 911, said APCO Chief Counsel Jeffrey Cohen. 911 call centers often receive a barrage of calls triggered by an emergency alert, and fuller alerts would reduce that, he said in taped remarks.
The additional information alerting officials see as possible with 3.0 is likely to require increased resources from alerting authorities, said Riverside, California, Emergency Services Administrator Mark Annas. They will need larger staffs to produce that additional info and create maps and other rich content to be sent to broadcasters and first responders, Annas said.
Alerting officials should be concerned about a trend of the public to depend exclusively on broadband connections to receive information, said E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson. TV strategist Josh Gordon presented information from a Sinclair-commissioned survey showing millennial and younger consumers look to their mobile phones for information first in an emergency. “If these trends hold true, that’s why ATSC 3.0 is here to get broadcasters involved in mobile technology,” he said.