Kendall Post, President of ALERT Systems, Inc (Madison, WI)

Introduction. ALERT Systems, Inc (ASI) is a collaboration of emergency management and engineering professionals. We have been studying public alerting, interagency notification and other emergency information dissemination issues and problems for 3 years. As we have talked with local emergency managers around the country, we have become increasingly disturbed by the lack of attention to these major problems for so long. We are even more disturbed by the seeming indifference of those tasked with domestic counter-terrorism missions. We are delighted that this roundtable begins to address these issues.

After 1997 flashfloods killed 9 people, a Northern California official told us these people died because they had did not have enough staff to alert people living along rivers in their jurisdiction at night. The official said those people would not have died if only they’d had the system this firm has been developing. We never want to hear that kind of statement again.

We’ve collected a lot of information illustrating the problems and failures of current public alerting, interagency notification and mutual aid mobilization systems. But the problems have already been well presented by Patrick McFadden from the York County Emergency Management Agency of Pennsylvania. I’m going to pick up where he left off and offer a comprehensive solution to those problems. First, you’ll need a description the solution, then I’ll make a formal offer to US emergency management. Finally, I’ll discuss funding and the justification of that funding.

Technical Solution. ALERT Systems has found an effective, unified solution to the information delivery process at the core of emergency management activities. The solution brings speed, accuracy, reliability and other benefits to that process. The solution is as intuitive as an Internet browser. It’s applicable to everyday emergencies so usage is automatic when the "big one" occurs. It addresses the needs of emergency agencies at all levels of government including approximately 3,200 state and county emergency government agencies, about 12,000 municipal 911 centers, hundreds of federal agencies and many private relief agencies. The solution has three parts – EMAlert, ALERTnet and EMA.

EMAlert is an information delivery computer system that choreographs the information delivery process at the core of all emergency management efforts. Using simple point and click methods on a computer map and audience list, an EMAlert system operator selects exactly who needs to be alerted. The message, whether a public warning, mutual aid request, or interagency notice is dispatched using any or all available communications channels. All transmissions, transmission times, message confirmations, incoming traffic, and communication path interruptions are time-tagged and logged. Responses to mutual aid requests are consolidated. Self-testing of communications channels is automatic. Data from computer-aided plume modeling, weather service storm boxes and local hazardous material sensor networks can be input directly into EMAlert. As a result, it is now practical to drive public alerting and interagency notification activities in real-time.

ALERTnet is a secure, national all-hazard, virtual private network that interconnects EMAlert systems for interagency notification, mutual aid mobilization, and real-time collaboration. Gateways (computers with special software) attached to ALERTnet give all local emergency agencies priority access to wireless carriers (paging, cell phone, etc.) and broadcast networks. Other gateways ALERTnet provide access to infrared satellite imagery for damage assessment and response targeting, and to other vital emergency resource data.

EMA is a "smart" receiver that solves the problem of getting the right message to the right public at the right time. You may consider EMA to be somewhat like a smoke alarm connected to your local emergency management agency. Basically, EMA moves the old civil defense sirens indoors while enabling powerful new features. Location specific messages launched by EMAlert can be delivered to any number of EMA receivers in an area of any size and shape in seconds over low-capacity wireless communications channels with a single message. The thermostat-sized wall devices display the location specific message while sounding an alarm according to "urgency" coding. When snapped from their wall cradle, they switch automatically to battery operation. Outdated information self-deletes. EMA solves ADA compliance, recreation area and many other accessibility problems. EMA is intended for every school, household, business, workplace, dormitory, hospital, recreational and other populated site in the United States in the manner of smoke alarms and carbon detectors.

Proposal to US Emergency Management. ASI is prepared to modernize the entire US alert and notification system from federal agencies through local agencies to the general public in 5 years. ASI offers to place EMAlert systems in major cities and key federal agencies at no cost for 3 years to jumpstart the modernization effort. ASI will help set open national standards and can develop and maintain the gateways and data servers attached to ALERTnet. We are prepared to take representatives of national emergency management or other public safety organizations as stakeholders in this company.

Program Funding and Justification. State, local and federal agencies already devote more money to emergency information dissemination than is needed to properly implement a modern integrated solution. The CDC’s new Health Alert Network initiative alone would fund 1/3 of the modernization while also meeting the Health Alert program mission. By consolidating existing independent programs, the US can fund the entire effort.

Small improvements in emergency information communications yield large savings in disaster recovery and other costs. Studies by FEMA and others show 20 to 1 returns on investments in mitigation and new public safety technology. As just one example of what is possible, wild fires in California cost $390M in a typical year. Wild fires double in size every 20 minutes. It takes 6 hours to stage a response with current notification and mobilization processes. Shaving one or two hours from staging times would save $50 to $100M per year in just one state. And these numbers do not include private sector losses of homes, vehicles, and timber.

Economic activity losses for a single city like Charleston, South Carolina due to a hurricane can be $100M per day or more. Evacuations usually involve 4 to 5 days but are growing in length due to population growth and road congestion problems. Many people evacuate unnecessarily because evacuation notices are not location specific. Worse yet, with existing public alerting systems, officials have limit times of day when they can issue evacuation orders. To be assured that people are awake to get the order, they must sometimes begin the evacuation process before the hurricane path is fully known. Because the path is not yet certain, the evacuation area is larger than actually necessary. EMAlert and EMA provide the flexibility to stage public evacuation preparations and then evacuate specific geographic areas as necessary on relatively short notice.

Summary. After three years of effort, Alert Systems has concluded there is only one completely effective solution to US emergency information delivery/dissemination problems. ASI has validated the basic system. There are no technical barriers to the solution. The US already spends more that enough money to fund the solution. The solution is easily justified by reductions in casualties and injuries, in environmental damage, in the number of permanent business closures, in losses from economic activity, and in many other ways

This firm will help craft a master technology vision and associated standards for the country. ASI offers to jumpstart the modernization program. The Red Cross is interested in working with ASI in this program. Numerous local officials have told us they would like to introduce this technology in their jurisdictions as they did with smoke alarms. Several municipalities have indicated their desire to put EMA into building codes like smoke alarms. ASI has growing support from municipal risk and finance managers, advocates of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and others.

The only remaining issue is how to get federal agencies to relinquish existing systems and associated moneys. Who here will take on that mission and how long will it take? I don’t even again want to hear someone say, "those people died because we couldn’t alert them in time."