This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 4, 2011 - Television viewers and radio listeners will hear a test of the emergency alert system Wednesday afternoon. But this exercise differs from exercises commonly conducted by local officials.
The test at 1 p.m. Wednesday is the first "end-to-end" nationwide test of the system -- a "diagnostic" exercise to see how the alert system would perform in the case of a major disaster or event, said Lauren Kravetz, a spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Commission.
"Even though the (emergency alert system) has been in existence for over 15 years, there has never been an end-to-end nationwide test of the system," Kravetz said. "So we need to know that the system will work as intended if public safety officials ever need to send a nationwide alert or an alert to a very large region of the country."
The system transmits emergency alerts and warnings to television and radio broadcasters, satellite radio and satellite television providers as well as cable television and wireline video providers, according to the FCC's website.
Nov. 9 was chosen, Kravetz said, because it's far enough out of hurricane season and before most severe winter weather. Performing the exercise at 1 p.m. central standard time, she said, ensures that the exercise won't interfere with rush hour -- except possibly in Guam.
Kravetz said the test begins when FEMA activates a code that will flow to "entry points" around the country.
She also said the FCC expects some hiccups in the process. "We want to make sure that if we actually send a nationwide alert that if we test for three minutes or more, we can be assured that automated equipment isn't going to shut down after two minutes," Kravetz said. "There might be more than two minutes of information that people need to hear."
Nick Gragnani, executive director of theSt. Louis Regional Response Systems, said local authorities -- such as the St. Louis County Police Department -- would be monitoring the test.
In a press release, the St. Louis County Police Department stated that the "test message on TV might not indicate that it is just a test" and "the lack of an explanation message might create panic."
"The audio message will be the same for all EAS participants; however due to limitations in the EAS, the video test message scroll may not be the same or indicate that 'this is a test,'" the St. Louis County Police Department press release says. "This is due to the use of the live EAN code -- the same code that would be used in an actual emergency. The text at the top of the television screen may indicate that an 'emergency alert notification has been issued.'"
The release went on to say that "the background image that appears on video screens during an alert may indicate that 'this is a test,' but in some instances there might not be an image at all." Both Kravetz and the St. Louis County Police press release said the test will run for about three minutes.
Jason Rosenbaum, a freelance journalist in St. Louis, covers state and local politics and government.
