by Lynn Fisher, Community Preparedness Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management | August 2, 2019
Part of my job description is to help residents and businesses become prepared for emergencies, no matter what the size.
Through our ReadyHome, ReadyBusiness, and ReadyCommunity programs, I get to go out and meet people to talk safety.
One of the best, and most often asked questions is “How will I know if something happens, how will you get us information?”
September is National Preparedness Month, so I thought I’d share some insight into emergency communications as a way to prepare for Septemeber.
Below is a guide to the different types of alert notifications.
Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a notification program run by FEMA. Alerts can be sent on the national, state, or local level. An alert, in the form of text or voice, comes across your television screen or radio dial.
Wireless Emergency Alert
A Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) message goes to your cell phone during an emergency. You will receive a WEA message depending on if your cell phone is in range of the cell tower it was sent to. This way, the people that are in a specific emergency area will get the information right away. There is a loud tone and a text message when you receive a WEA message. WEA messages are sent for extreme weather events that require immediate action like Tornadoes and Flash Floods. They are also part of the Amber Alert System sent by the State Police to alert you of a missing child and last seen car information. WEA messages can only be sent by the National Weather Service local office, the State Police and Public Safety Officials. There is a setting on your phone that allows for WEA messages.
ReadyPhiladelphia Alerts
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) can send emergency alerts to cell phones, email, and home phones. You need to enroll for these free alerts. There is more opportunity, because of expanded character counts, to give more information to people using the ReadyPhiladelphia alert system. The system allows OEM to send specific alerts to anywhere on the Philadelphia map.
For example, if there is a Shelter in Place order for your neighborhood, OEM can draw a circle on the map for your neighborhood and everyone in that area that is signed up for ReadyPhiladelphia alerts will be notified. There are many different types of alerts you can sign up for; Flooding on either Schuylkill River or Delaware River, Refining Complex alerts, Court or Government Closings, Streets Department service announcements, and the Philadelphia Prison System. There are also a whole host of SEPTA Trolley, Regional Rail, and General alerts you can choose from. We recommend everyone that lives or works in Philadelphia sign up for ReadyPhiladelphia Alerts.
ReadyPhiladelphia is free, and you can put in 2 different addresses for notification. For instance, you can get alerts for your home address, and your grandma’s home address if she lives in another neighborhood.
Reverse 911 White & Yellow Pages
Reverse 911 is a system that Philadelphia Police and Fire Dispatch/911, and OEM can use to capture all the published phone numbers in an area drawn on a map of Philadelphia. Can be used to deliver recorded emergency notifications to a selected set of telephone service subscribers.
Social Media
Social media is all the web communications platforms that OEM uses to get messages out. Currently, we use Facebook (Phila Oem) and Twitter (@PhilaOEM). This is not our primary messaging system, because the EAS, Ready Philadelphia, and R911 are designed as a Call to Action. We want you to act on the information given to you in the alert messages. Social media helps us get more detailed information, photos, maps, and links out quickly. We will post the same text from alerts onto our social media pages.
