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The Cost of Getting Emergency Alerts Wrong — Lessons from Oregon · The Alerting Authority

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Eddie Bertola and welcome to another episode of the Alerting Authority.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, we encourage you to subscribe, follow, listen, and most importantly, participate in these podcasts because we want to hear your questions, your concerns, ideas, problems, pain points, all of the above, so we as alerting authorities can do our jobs better and make our community safer.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do want to say Jeanette is not on this one.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So for everybody who is immediately thinking, crap, like we gotta have we have Eddie only.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: You don't.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm actually interviewing someone today who is uh at a statewide level um over the alert and warning program, and I really think you're gonna enjoy it.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Jeanette will be back so you can continue to listen.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm you know, she's enjoying some time off.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to thank our sponsor up front.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this is Everbridge.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when it comes to alerting and resilience, it's not just about sending a message, it's about making sure the right people get the right information at the right time.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's why more than 6,500 organizations around the world trust Everbridge.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: From global enterprises to government agencies, Everbridge helps teams stay ahead of the disruption and protect what matters most.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: They have a high-velocity CEM platform powered by purpose-built AI and will help organizations anticipate risk, communicate clearly during a crisis, and recover faster when critical events occur.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's severe weather, operational disruption, or a major incident, um, Everbridge really gives leaders that confidence to act quickly and decisively.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: So a big thank you to Everbridge for sponsoring this.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we'll continue with the podcast.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: I am joined by Will Chapman.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he is the statewide interoperability and watch center manager for the state of Oregon.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is that about right for a title, Will?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's mouthful, but yep, that's the title.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So just a little bit about him.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: I have known Will for quite a long time, but there's stuff in the bio here that I did not know that really just kind of adds to the eminence of of his career of what's happened.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so Will, he spent his career in public safety, but here's something I did not know.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: It included 911 communications, um, law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management, statewide public safety communications.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Before coming to Oregon, he spent 10 years with the University of Arizona Police Department, including supervising its 911 Communications Center.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's worked um with several fire and EMS agencies and continues to serve as a volunteer firefighter.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And is that true?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: You were still a volunteer firefighter?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was on duty last night, actually.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is amazing.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Props to you and to all the firefighters out there who are doing that.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um since joining Oregon in 2019, Will has helped lead emergency communications during some of the state's most significant events.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he got on right before COVID-19.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that that's a welcome for you.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then on top of COVID, while all that was happening, Oregon um ended up passing through the 2020 Labor Day fires, as well as multiple other winter storms.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, today his responsibilities include statewide interoperability, um, emergency communication support, uh, administration of OR Alert, that's Oregon's statewide alerts and warnings program, as well as a bunch of other things because for those that are in government, have been in government, or just don't understand, your job description says something and you do it, but then there's so many other things that are just tacked on, especially if you're good at your job.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: They just throw more at you, which I know Will is.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the show.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's that the other duties as assigned cause that we like to put right at the bottom of the job description.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I swear they always say it's the 5%.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's on the bottom, 5% other duties as assigned, but sometimes it feels more like 50% at times.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for having me.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's great to be here on uh the podcast.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um before we get into any talk of iPause or OR alert, interoperability, policy, all those things that I really enjoy.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want to get to know, I don't want to help people kind of get to know you.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't give you these questions in advance.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of a a for fun lightning round.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Just the I would say the first thing that comes to your mind.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do understand you're a government employee.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So here we go.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: But these these are all these are all approved through we've done them before.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So help us get to know Will.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: What is your favorite color?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Blue.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: What is your favorite movie of all time?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Armageddon.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your favorite burger chain.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: This one gets controversial.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, burger chain?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm not really a burger fan, actually.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more of a chicken guy, but but have a good one.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go I'll go favorite chicken chain because there's different ones out there.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Chick-fil-A.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Chick-fil-A.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so no canes, no slim chickens.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Chick-fil-A.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have canes in Oregon.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we just don't have one open up and report me, but yeah.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I'm sure Chick-fil-A is going to be sending you a gift card for that shout-out right now, right?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is not the opinions of my agency.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Mountains or beach person?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Both.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I live in Oregon.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: You have a dragon clip strap off beach.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's right.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Don't jump from to get down to beach, yeah.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are you an early bird or a night owl?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I prefer to be a night owl, and that's how I naturally am, but right now I have one day a week where I have to get in the office at 4 a.m.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that makes me morning uh person for for now.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I think Well, I tell you 4 a.m.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: is is borderline night owl anyway, because it just means you didn't sleep.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um all right.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Coffee soda or energy drink?
• 6:37
  unknown: Coffee.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: My brother is a barista.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: What?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: My brother is a barista, and I'm a coffee roaster, so I have to.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, there you go.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So a connoisseur.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um favorite kind of music?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Country.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I just have two more, and then we're gonna or three.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, I guess I can't count.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um you've got a completely free Saturday, so obviously this is fictitious.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Are you uh stay at home or are you gonna get out there and do something?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I have a two-year-old at home.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the chances of us staying indoors and doing nothing are very low.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we're probably gonna go out and do something.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it'll probably be way back in the last.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you were not in public safety, and I say that uh with you, I have to make sure, if you were not in the emergency alert and warning, not a volunteer, firefighter, EMS, not someone with all your dispatch, so of a far, you know, far away from public safety, what would you be doing?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: That is the question.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um And this is not an invitation for you to look at something else to do.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, I uh I like teaching.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I think you have to be a teacher.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: I've also really liked cooking.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um I could open a restaurant or something like that.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh probably what would you cook?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um Mexican food, maybe.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty good Mexican food drink or breakfast.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Those are two things I like food and Mexican food.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's there you go.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm all right.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is one that I I can relate to a lot.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So this is the final little fun question.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you work in alerting, when your phone makes that sound, right, and we're talking an iPause WIA, when it makes that sound, are you the type of person that can just read the alert like a normal person and go about your day?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you immediately start analyzing who sent it, how it was written, how far you know is the geographic activation area, and whether or not you would have done it differently?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely an analyzer.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm almost always in the state, right?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's somebody that uh uh I have likely had contact with or will have contact with.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so it's it's uh they're one, what is going on, but two, yeah, how'd the message go out?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: How did it look, where'd it go out, who's been to, do they need help?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do we need us to respond to it?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then um, yeah, do we need to get involved in an AR hot wash on this?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because oftentimes for those that don't know, when people like us, when we get those messages, there's usually a phone call or something that comes afterwards as well of somebody else saying, Hey, what just happened?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, thank you for getting giving us the chance to kind of get to know you.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I'm sure it's all the stuff you like to talk about.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna jump into kind of what what we want to do here.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the first one is it's really uh I I I read your bio.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: You have a very unique uh history as kind of coming up the chain, especially when you say, you know, you've worked in the 911 center, like for law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management, and now you don't just work in that state level position, you you really run this program.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Can you talk about that journey?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think there are people that are in different stages that may want to get to a position like you.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how did you get there?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, you know, I sometimes I get through the day of bureaucracy and I wonder how I got here and what choices that I poor choices I made to get here and why I'm not just riding on the back of a firetruck.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: But um, I'm just just kidding.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I when I was a kid, I um, you know, I always kind of looked at those who were in uniform and had a badge as like my superheroes.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was probably a little bit of a weird kid, but uh all my toys were you know, police cars and fire trucks and ambulances, and maybe I had a few like regular matchbox cars just so they could be in the accident, um, you know, and that the the police and fire and EMS uh vehicles could go respond to.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: But um I I always just remember like being involved or thinking about you know public safety and and um response and and looking at them as the good guys, right?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I you know my favorite show was Rescue 911.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'll always remember you know the theme music and William Shatner and you know talking about uh um critical incident and the 91 call and and how these people came together to make a difference in the world.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that like really set me up.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know how I wanted to go about being involved in this world, but I just knew that you know it was a team that I wanted to be a part of.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and when I was in middle school, I uh my family moved from Phoenix up to this usually rural uh area of northern Arizona, um about 60 miles west of the Grand Canyon.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like really rural, um solar power, pollen water, uh off-grid kind of thing.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and for a you know middle kid who is you know the internet was just coming online and um uh cell phones weren't really a thing yet, but they were starting to be.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And um, like that was a big deal.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I I kind of thought the world was over, but it wasn't.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um I got the go do some pretty cool outdoor things and joining sports.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: But uh in high school, um the local volunteer fire department came into the health class to teach a CPR class, and you know, by the end of it they said, hey, you know, we're recruiting for volunteer firefighters.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um and by the way, we'll take you as young as 16.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so for me that was like the gateway drug, right?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I thought, man, this is nothing better I can do with my time.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so you know, by the end of the class, I was still not an application and signing up, and uh they paid for me to go get my EMT and got me a uniform and a radio, and uh pretty soon I was you know heading out of math class to go respond to a structure fire, right?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Or or go to a CPR call, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um Did it give you a pager?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: But uh it it was right at the end of the pager times, yeah, at the voice pagers.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we had a system where um the local dispatch center would call uh 10-digit number and it would you know activate a uh uh the repeater and and send out the the dispatch to us, right?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't actually talk to the dispatcher, uh they just called a recording and and dispatched us out that way, which was a that's a unique way of doing things, but man, it worked for us.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um and um it uh you know it kind of opened my world up to this whole response thing that I knew something about and I was really interested in it, but all of a sudden I was right in the middle of it, right?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: A 16, 17-year-old kid um going to you know traumas and structure fires and and just being in the middle of it, and I loved it, and I loved it.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so I loved it when I make it a career.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um and um a lot has changed since then, right?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, as you talked about, and then my my fire, I've had an opportunity to serve with a couple of different fire departments, U of A PD.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh I got to help launch an EMS program on campus too while I was there.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh 911, I got an opportunity to be an Arizona Ranger for a little while, and um now here doing this, um all that.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's been an experience of a lifetime.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: But the thing that has always been the same for me has always been that it doesn't really matter what the emergency is, you sort of need the whole team there to make it work.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think my experience and and the way I grew up and um you know the roles that I've had, it it just makes you know that sharp contrast that a lot of people see between agencies and services just isn't there for me, right?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh I can walk between those worlds, I've I've worn all the different uniforms, or um had some of the certs and um speak the languages, but you know, for me it's like, hey, we've we've got to show up when uh the public needs us and those lines shouldn't exist, right?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: We we're showing up to do the job.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that has to extend to the technology too.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um on the on the worst days, right?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Our our 9-11s or Hurricane Katrinas or um our Rudosos, um uh just listen to that that podcast, um, it's gotta be, you know, the technology has to be there to serve us too, in addition to the relationships and the people and the governance, and um, because that's what the public deserves, right?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um to protect and serve by default means showing up when it matters and and doing what we gotta do and uh working across jurisdictions and across levels of government and uh and being there on the bad day.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well again, thank you for all the different levels of service.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if they would have offered me a chance as a high school senior to go out on a couple of calls, I think that would have been amazing.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um they did not, and I'm sure they probably were smart by not letting me, but it's it's it's just amazing and uh just to get that type of exposure.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um now bringing it now, you now we're we're in Oregon.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: So your career has brought you to Oregon.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk a little bit about some of the changes that have happened because I I do think you've put a lot of things in place and developed a lot of things within your state.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um kind of a broad question is how does Oregon do things differently?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess I'll qualify it as there are states that are so hands-off on the alerting, on activation.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we say alerting today, guys, too, there are those opt-in programs like um the organ alert works we'll talk about.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then there's the federal system, which has all of your different iPods alerts.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: There are states that are kind of just like, hey, you know what, go for it.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know it any better than you, so just sure, just don't talk to me, don't tell me about it, just la la la type situation.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then there are states that definitely take a more active approach.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to know where where Oregon fits in into that and how you do things differently.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I guess maybe backing up a little bit, um, you know, you mentioned I got the job in 2019, which is kind of right in the middle of COVID.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just before COVID started.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have a council, uh the State Interoperability Detective Council, an organ, like many states do, um, that sort of works with the SWIC to kind of look at emergency communications.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the uh things that the VSIC looks at uh in terms of emergency communications should be alerts and warnings.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so uh about that time um you might remember the 2019 Campfire in Paradise, California, and it just happened, and um a lot of AARs were swirling around and lost some started from that incident, and um you know, we're not too far away from there.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um unfortunately, 85 people you know lost their lives in that incident, and um lots of things happen, uh you know, weather and terrain and uh wind-driven fire, terrible things.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but some of the more preventable things, right, or how the alert and warning system was administered in that area, two different systems, um, uh reliance on certain infrastructure.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then you know really a lot of it fell on two local dispatchers that were overwhelmed by the response.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um we sort of took those lessons and uh you know brought on our SIC and said, you know, hey, we're kind of concerned here that Oregon has deployed our alert and warning capabilities in a very similar way.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: If this happened tomorrow here in Oregon, we're at a very similar risk, right?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: The the same tragedy could happen here.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: How do we how do we use the hard lesson that uh you know our neighbors to the South have learned and try and learn from it without having to go through the same beam and the same trauma?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is there something we can learn here?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so they uh they added an objective within our our statewide communications and optimality plan or skip uh for us to sort of analyze that and come back with some recommended solutions and uh uh take a look at the state of alerts and warnings within within Oregon and uh you know come back with uh a fix.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so at the time you know when we did that, again, COVID sort of just starting um uh maybe uh you know, first month or so, first two months, uh we're kind of halfway into the study of what alerts and warnings really look like in the state, and we found that about half of our counties had some sort of system in place, um wasn't any tribal involvement.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there were two state agencies that had some capabilities, but uh different systems, no real lines on what they were doing, um, you know, pretty well-defined Amber Alert program, but that was kind of it.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um our state emergency management uh office at the time um uh had been through a an alerting issue where they you know tried to back up a county for a drinking water issue and um accidentally uh sent the wrong type of alerts, the wrong area, and um a lot of trust had been lost.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so what we came across, you know, sort of a lesson line with that was there's a lot of things we could do to fix this problem or at least make some sort of difference with it, right?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: We could maybe do some training, we could do some exercise, we could put some guidance out there, we could invest in the program or the technology, we could bring um users and and you know interest parties together and talk about it and um you know just maybe develop a community practice, right?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um again at the time we saw there were a lot of needs related to the COVID response of public messaging and you know how do we get messaging related to vaccine efficacy or or uh where to get masks and um and PPE um out to the public, but also um how do we communicate internally for content operations within our state government range or or within locals.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we could sort of all of this kind of swirling around at the same time, and um at the end of the day, we'll We realized was we really need all that we needed to come with a table with a comprehensive program that sort of redefined what an alert learning program for our state was.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so um by the time we got really through scoping what that would look like um uh on Labor Day of 2020, um uh we had what we call the Labor Day fires is a series of fires that um, although not uh the most acres burned, certainly the most human impact.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um we've lost lives, we lost uh hundreds of homes, um, millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, um uh evacuation of 911 center, um just a one of our worst disasters in our history.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um lots of alerts went up, some better than others.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um we in the middle of that emergency, you know, we we saw several things related to alerts and warnings occur.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: We saw um a well-intentioned elected official uh tweet out that you know the public could text in uh their code to a certain number anywhere in the state and be opted in for alerts warnings.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: We saw uh you know some misinformation related to uh how people could sign up for alerts.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: We saw um uh some county emergency managers uh you know send out level three go now fire evacuations right to the edge of their county, and then the next county emergency manager not have the ability to do that type of alerting, uh, even though the fire was already at the county line, right?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: And burning jerking overhead.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we have the solution, um, but we were too late.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and um I guess the the silver lining of 2020 and the Labor Day fires, you know, not letting a good disaster go to waste.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um by November uh we were in front of the legislature and saying, here's how we fix this issue.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um they saw that vision and and uh uh allowed us to move forward with our proposal.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um and our our philosophy on this was the state knows clearly no better on how to do learning than anybody else, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're not a primary alerting authority uh at the time, you know, really the only time the state had done the learning at that point, they had um unfortunately messed it up.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so when we approached it, we did not approach it with a we know best, you know, take let the state take the lead.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: We really approached it from you know a perspective of we have to do this together.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um if we're gonna fix this, it's gotta be a um a collaborative approach.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh one of the things that we did was we convened a group of emergency managers, PIOs, um, some of the state agencies that were active in the space, um, and we had them create the mission statement for the program.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's been modified ever so slightly since, but um you know the very end of it has stayed the same.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's you know, the mission of OrAlert is to provide people in Oregon with meaningful opportunities to make life-saving decisions in the face of emergencies.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um that has stuck with us since we created the program in 2020.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, it's burned into my mind and kind of the lens that we've always used to make decisions on alerts and warnings from contracting to training and exercise to services we're able to offer.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and again, the state is not the primary alerting authority um uh when it comes to pushing the big red button.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: But um we we do believe that we have a role here too.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so Oregon is a home rule state, um, but we have sort of changed the you know, the FEMA truism of uh locally led state supported to um locally operationalized, uh state-supported, reinforced, and collaboratively let.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um is kind of how we put it together.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're all gonna come to the table, we're gonna figure this thing out in a collaborative governance forum, and then we're gonna go out and get it together.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um so the states uh put the contract together and paid for it.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um the you know, our our group of state and locals together have had put our guidance and training program together, um, templates distributed across all of our agencies and um uh counties and tribal governments.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're here about five years later.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um all 36 counties participate, uh 27 state agencies, uh five tribal governments, um, and uh just had a conversation today about a 28th state agency coming on board.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's been really, really, I think, effective for Oregon.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um doesn't mean it's rates were fairly bitty, but it um it it seemed to work really well for us.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we every year we see um more and more messages go out um in different formats faster, which I think is you know the metric that we're looking for when something happens, right?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm telling you, it's it's been a process.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where like we'll talk about it in three minutes, right?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying we're talking about it again, but example you spoke about it and took about three minutes to talk about, hey, this is where we were, this is where we are.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: I I I hope everybody understands the countless hours, meetings, and and just discussions that that were needed to be able to create where you are today and where you're going tomorrow.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's I mean, I I think Disney is fun.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I I like all those little, you know, things, um, those fun stories.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: But magic takes work.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like it really does.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so no, I and again, we're gonna break that down just a little bit more here and give a couple, I think, uh different examples.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I do want to break for a sponsor and I'm really appreciative of Everbridge.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Everbridge is a sponsor of the podcast, and they are used by more than 6,500 global organizations to keep people safe and reduce disruption to operations.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: They help leading enterprises and government organizations across the globe build digital and physical resilience by using their industry-leading solutions.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Today, their high-velocity CEM platform, powered by purpose-built AI, sets a world standard for business resilience with Everbridge customers can confidently anticipate, mitigate, respond to, and recover from critical events.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you to our sponsor.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like we we can't do it without sponsors, so we're grateful.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um all right, back with Will.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of those questions, and it I'm definitely teeing this up because of something that you have just accomplished here just in the last couple months.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: What is the process like now if something happens at two in the morning?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because uh breaking this down for a lot of people out there in emergency management and everything else, we often train between nine to five.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Disasters though don't necessarily follow that structure.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so if it's two in the morning, what are and I'm this is a cool thing.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: What is it gonna be like now in Oregon?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, I mean, 2 a.m.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: right it's the the witching hour, uh, not a lot of people awake.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um like I said, we're uh we're a uh home rule state and and and we rely on our counties to be the primary alerting authorities.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um in a perfect world, uh our counties um have identified a 24-7-365 uh point of contact that that is capable of doing alert and warning at all hours of the day, every day of the year.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then many cases they have.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um we we work with them to uh yeah follow the best practice of at least two alerting authorities within the county, uh, and in many cases working with one of our 4911 jurisdictions to uh utilize the center's capabilities, either in a backup or a primary role.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um but uh when that doesn't happen, um uh yeah, we just launched our uh 24-7-365 state um uh uh Oregon Emergency Communications and Coordination Center that went live on June 29th.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um we uh uh the Department of Emergency Management assumed uh operations of the Oregon Emergency Response System or ORs from our state police um uh mandated uh on July 1st.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we went live on June 29th.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but that is now the place where uh we can back up uh uh our our local alerting authorities 247-365.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: That used to be a duty officer program that you know you had to call them on and page somebody out and get them out of bed, and hopefully they had their laptop and you know could MSA into the system.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's not the case anymore.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um we now have uh a two watch specialist standing duty uh 247-365 that are there when they're needed most.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um we did see it happen uh just recently uh where you know a county emergency manager was having some troubles with the GIS file, right, and trying to get their alert out.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um can they were able to call in the watch center and the watch center is able to system and get that that via out uh in in minutes, right?
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: Where before it would have taken 30 minutes to an hour.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so that's you know to us how we're trying to operationalize this and uh and and keep the capability going even at 2 a.m., whatever it is, but right.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um our our folks will not be, they will be there when you need them always ready.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, considering that there are many places out there that are doing still the on-call type thing.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and it if that's how you run it, and I'm not not you well, but like other places if for any listeners, because that's all the capabilities that you currently have, just keep doing your best.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, absolutely.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: And and and again, from people who've been on call before, it is um tough to carry that all the time because you know you need to have your phone.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's uh it's just hard because you do go out to eat with friends or family, you do want to sleep at some point, um and you still need to be able to respond.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: So for those that are doing it, keep going.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's tough.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: For those that have done just what Oregon just did very recently and set up that 24-7 365 center, that's pretty amazing.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of discussion, it does take funding, um, all those different things.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I really think the the communities within the state are going to benefit from that um level of redundancy that you're gonna be able to provide and efficiency that goes with it.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and just joke, I mean you can joke or think about it took one of these full centers to replace you for being on call.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about that, but it definitely uh, you know, this this center uh has been a long time coming, and we um, you know, we're we're really thankful for our friends at the Oregon State Police who carried this bantle for us for a long time.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, they'll be the first to tell you that they weren't emergency managers, right?
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: They were um uh law enforcement health desk specialists, and and that was what they're really good at, and they kind of carried this torch for us for a little while and um you know and we're really good at paging out the on call person, but uh that was the the limits of their emergency management knowledge.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so now the you know the state has uh uh seen the value in investing in the emergency management capability at the enterprise level so that we can backstop and back up our locals and tribal emergency managers.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we're really excited for that capability now uh as we become a uh larger, you know, more robust state agency.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well yeah, and and as you said, and and you know, we're joking back and forth about you know them replacing you for this thing.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, just as you said before, it it takes a team.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the type of response that all of these disasters require.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just law enforcement, it's not just emergency management, it's not just fire, it's not just public health, PIOs, um, or any any other product, you know, stakeholder in this.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: It really is a collective um effort that really goes into solving this.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm it's funny, I'm like, well, then you have you know, road crews, you have all these uh these elements that we could not be as successful as we are without them.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody's putting in their time.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that there are centers like the one that was created, I think is really just gonna help um provide that next level for the state of Oregon, which it deserves.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is one I'd love to hear because we mentioned COVID-19.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: We mentioned the Labor Day fires, there are other winter storms, there have been some other uh larger incidents.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to know like what what have you learned through your experience from some of these um quote unquote like these big ones?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: And are there are there things or times as you were going through them where you were like, man, we got this, like we did it right.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And were there other times when you're like, okay, this is a good example of we need to look at this a little more?
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I you know, it's it's hard to see them in the moment because you're you're living in the moment, you're just trying to do the next thing to get through the disaster.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: But when you look back on them, I you you see the little things that, oh, you know, that was the you know, that was what success looked like, or man, we we really missed up there, we could have done better.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, how do we fix that next time?
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there are types of those moments, I think, in each of the disasters that we faced.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a couple of them really come to mind.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you had a guest on the podcast uh, I think a couple of podcasts ago, uh, Eric Queller from uh City of Easter.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um I had the opportunity to uh deploy on Emacs uh to his EOC um in the middle of that incident uh as a uh a communications unit leader, um unique position of sort of being there for the state and supporting the state ESF2, but uh also supporting the local ground response.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and one of the most, I think, unique things that I saw there was how quickly uh Eric was able to just push the button and get it right every time.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I was there for 10 days, um, and I think he pushed maybe 10 views in that 10 days, right?
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just one after the other.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a couple in an afternoon as weather moved through, flash flooding, this was after the fire uh had burned.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, and as I was watching do it, I was like, he's got the right philosophy, right?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's got uh an embedded meteorologist who's telling him what's going to happen with the weather, um, and and he's operationalizing that.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: He's got his templates built, he's got uh the right authority, the messages have been approved, he's able to operationalize that the moment he gets the information directly from that meteorologist.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that was um to me, that was what right looked like, right?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I uh you know, that was two years ago, a little over two years ago, but I was able to take that back and um uh just you know sometimes we get removed at the state level and we think things are going well, but it's hard to know what right looks like.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so being in that EOC uh and seeing it in a major disaster uh really made a lot of sense to me.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um later on, uh actually this past year, I had the opportunity to uh participate in the local emergency managers uh multi-agency coordination group um for some of the fires that we had going on this year.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um sort of a similar thing happened.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: We uh we had a brand new emergency manager who'd been on the job uh about less than 48 hours, and she had a major major incident um in her jurisdiction.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: And this group uh got on with her um three or four local emergency managers.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was there from the state.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um and when she mentioned that she had these alerting issues, those four other emergency managers just went to work with her, right?
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: They said, All right, first ups, your level three, you know, go now fire evacuations.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh do you have polygons for those yet?
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, okay.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's get those polygons.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: You should have the templates reloaded.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't, we've got copies of those for you, or William can get them for you.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get those into your systems.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: You have your iPods codes?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, we'll get we'll get you those.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: William will get you those.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, here's how you're gonna issue them, right?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and they just walked her through the steps.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and she got all of those out in you know less than 10 minutes.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just really impressed at how smoothly that went and how our local emergency managers came together to support one another.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that was kind of what right looked like for me.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: On the other side, I've I've seen you know delays and I've seen hesitations, and and we've had incidents where um somebody has pushed the button wrong.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um we we've had a uh uh uh a couple of times now where you know boil water notice has gone countywide, no, when it was really only meant for 10 homes, right?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or uh um uh left out a license plate uh in an Amber alert, or um uh our own agency uh uh checked a statewide box, or rather uncheck a statewide box instead of selecting the county FIPS code for uh an alert that needed to go out, uh it happens.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I think one of the lessons learned out of that is that we're human and that it happens.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um we need to continue to train and we need to put the policies and procedures in place, and and we need to get it right as often as we can.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: We also need to understand that it's gonna happen.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um a couple of years ago we had an emergency manager who you know did have a little bit of an alerting issue, and and her elected officials went after her, right?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: And she doesn't work there anymore.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um luckily she found uh some employment elsewhere, but um that level of scrutiny and and uh um you know fear that the emergency management communities carries of getting it wrong makes them reluctant to push the button, right?
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um in another instance, uh in another state, you know, they had another news message go out and uh that state threatened to terminate the contract and blame the contractor, and um it uh turned out to be a user error, but um, you know, again, uh in that case It usually is.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Can I just throw that out there?
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's hilarious, people blame their technology companies, and it's like I mean, I'm not saying technology can't make an error, right?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: They c they can.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: But it's always just like I may have clicked the wrong button, so I'm gonna blame the technology.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it uh but the knee jerk reaction, I mean, gets us every time, and what does it do?
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: It creates this sense of distrust and uh unease and uncertainty, and you know, in that case, uh just like in our case, you know, all the counties are relying on the state to provide the solution to do their critical messaging, uh, and now there's uncertainty in that.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so they're all right, do we need to go out and get contracts for a new system?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do we need to adjust here?
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: And there wasn't great answers.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so one of the things that we have learned is is errors are gonna happen, right?
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: And be prepared for those.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: And what does that look like?
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: Do we you know we put a procedure in place, we've um made a policy decision that when an error happens, you know, the state will come by, come beside um the you know the jurisdiction and um uh co-brand press releases and provide PAO support, and um, you know, we'll conduct the hot wash, we'll go see the technical review, we'll pull vlogs, we'll do everything we can, we'll help them learn from it, but the one thing that we won't do is come in and you know blame or ridicule or or uh um you know try and throw anybody under the bus.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's that's a lesson learned.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um that we should really try intentionally to make uh things like that, I think.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: I and and I would say and and tell me if you guys have have done this already, having a relationship with the alert origination software provider, whoever whoever you have, I think is a pretty critical component.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um because as well as technology, there are people that are behind that.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are going through challenges, and again, I I am the first one to say I've been through challenges where if if I made a mistake in alert or anything else, where you can have that phone number or have that connection, not just from that incident, but that relationship and then leverage that to make just to help smooth things out.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Fortunate in that we get to um uh have a full-time member of the uh software provider that's assigned our team and and she supports us every day and we have a great relationship with her uh and she supports all of our users and um uh that resource has been amazing uh both from the technical side and and then also from uh uh a training and development side and um just understanding what the software provider's thinking but then also you know relationships with the FEMA iPod's office um uh our other states uh and then also the people who are in the carrier messages right the podcasters association um on the AS side the cellular providers um in one case we had uh uh an overshooting issue with a a carrier that was much wider than it should have been uh and we were able to communicate that to them um along with some supporting information uh and they bejucated it and made uh changes to about 10,000 cellular sites on the whole west coast uh based on that feedback and and you know affected the way alerts and volumes were delivered across their network and so but just by having those relationships and being able to communicate and and work through the problem right I think that's another lesson line.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well absolutely I mean and I hope people and I I I keep saying I hope people you probably don't know but like the emergency alert system participants, all your broadcasters or your telecommunication companies for the wireless emergency alert they're volunteers.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: They they do it as a public service but it's not like contingent on funding.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: They don't get paid you know for every time a wireless emergency alert or he you know Will pushes out a message across TV nobody earns money from that.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: In fact it just costs them resources, time and and everything else.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I I I do think it's important just as you did to highlight those relationships um because it would be a lot harder for us to do our jobs if they were not invested into this.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because then you'd have to be just standing on top of that building just yelling okay everybody get down or whatever it is that you're trying to do.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: So um I think those are are key.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now final question and this is it doesn't have to be a a big answer but just I'd love to get your thought if you if you were in front of I mean I know you've spoken to different groups I know I know you've already done that but I want you to put yourself on that stage again and think if you have all of you know the emergency management personnel that you would need all the other stakeholders if you have the alerting authorities and they're gonna just listen to you for a couple like what are your key points if you could just relay something to them maybe that that they're doing well or something that we need to do better.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: What would it be?
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have to keep working together right and it goes back to the the last question.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_01: The relationships matter the the talking with each other and communicating with each other matter um the I don't know what you don't know and you don't know what I don't know and and and and we have to communicate um because if we don't the whole system breaks down.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's impossible to know every detail of every system and and how they all work.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's impossible to understand the perspectives of everybody.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to get together and we have to to ask one but then also uh work together to to make this entirely complex ecosystem work with whatever those messages um so I'd say that's one really big thing.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other one I would say is we have a really complex problem that is kind of staring us into the face and that is um technology is rapidly changing.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: How do we keep pace with it, right?
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's mobile device technology and and the change from you know terrestrial based delivery infrastructure to you know potentially orbit satellite uh proliferation of streaming services over um traditional broadcast technology, uh infotainment um type systems within vehicles and the elimination of FMA and radio of even people sitting in front of computers like this like you and I are right the how we alert and communicate with people will change based on the technology that they have in front of them.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_01: Are we keeping up with it, right?
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I you know in some ways I think we are but in other ways I I don't know that we are um we have to keep talking about that we have to um be nimble and we have to think through those really complex problems and work together.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's probably the biggest thing I would say.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: So Will another question I have and I think we've touched on it a little bit before but on that that opt-in side of alerting so if we leave out the wireless emergency alert, the non-weather emergency message emergency alert system those things which are federally governed what do you have for in-state alerting that people can either sign up for or if there's data that goes along with it how do you communicate with those in your communities?
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so um our program is called uh ORAlert or OR Alert uh depending on how you pronounce it um and it's a a comprehensive statewide system um uh uh the the state pays for uh provides to again all 36 counties uh all of our tribal governments are eligible uh five of them currently opt to end to utilize it um we also make it available to sub jurisdictions like uh um special districts uh municipalities uh etc if they want to through their county uh the county is sort of uh um alerting entity uh authority within their jurisdiction uh and what that is is uh um a toolkit full of tools that an emergency manager can use based on the scope and scale of the emergency right um and so um although we've mentioned iPause right uh iPause um necessitates software to access it uh and so that's one of the tools in the toolbox as part of or alert so uh at a minimum capability the tool provides access to iPause um uh it also provides access to an opt-in system in which counties can code brand with us uh so for example uh Deschutes County brands theirs as Deschutes alerts powered by OrAlert in which their uh local population can co-opt in for messages uh within their local jurisdiction really anything that they want they can do uh something as benign as a you know special event calendar all the way up to uh county level emergency alerts um as people opt into that data that data does flow up into the state so the state maintains the ability to uh access that opt-in data and um uh alert on their behalf if we ever had to um we also um uh provide and within the same system um uh a statewide database for uh all uh commercial um and residential landlines voice over IP uh subscribers and then wireless subscribers by film address um most of that's done through census data uh utility records things like that um there is an app we provide uh tools for websites public facing websites that uh again through the same platform the very same screen uh you can uh publish your message to a public facing website uh it also carries through over to the OrAlert site um which is a uh heavy infrastructure um millions of hits at a time site um we provide a local phone number for each jurisdiction to utilize so that um you know when they're calling folks through that opt-in system if they call back they can receive the message that they were intended to um we've done some work on emerging and future alerting uh mediums so um publishing to uh Google Alerts uh uh the ring neighborhood app not from the same screen they can publish to their social media accounts um and then keyword and and zip code opt-ins right uh so I mentioned earlier um that uh you know we had a uh well-meaning elected officials say that somebody could text their zip code in anywhere in the state that's now true uh so we went ahead and make that true but we also recognized that there was probably a little bit of a segment of the population that maybe just didn't want to sign up for alerts and warnings and give um you know the government all of their information right their address and their number and their first and last name uh so we wanted to really make that true so that um uh they could just text in their zipper right uh or a keyword uh so some municipalities uh use their city name as the keyword to text in uh or around special events right the state fair was just this last weekend um so that would have been a use case where you know they could have put together a keyword Oregon State Fair or State Fair uh Flex that in um and be signed up for looks warnings around that particular event and then uh lastly uh as part of the program um we have uh another platform that's integrated into the system uh that produces a public facing map and helps jurisdictions pre-plan their evacuation zones uh and then by doing that um those uh zones are um produced into GIS shapes they're ready for alerting um and so those uh carry over into our alerting platform and they can be used for Wiias or the opt-in system uh etc but all in the same uh ecosystem um that way everybody is ready to go and they don't have to draw a map on the head of their car and then try and take a photo of it and send it over an email and uh then try and hand draw it in the system uh it's all ready to go in.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now again it's everything that you listed took effort and takes effort.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_00: And for those that are are thinking about their own opt-in systems and they're like the only thing we have is an email.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well good job that's that's one thing.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: So build off of it.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um because I I really think what you guys have accomplished there and what you're still working on because I know it's a continuum, right?
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's can it's continuing to grow has taken a lot of effort from many different people.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so while we take a little photograph of it now in this timestamp moment and you look back, there's a lot that's happened.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um so good job to you and the countless people that have been been involved in that effort to make it what it is.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah and I mean I mean one of the things that I didn't touch on but I really would like to you know speaking of people's efforts is um template building right uh we have um a committee of mostly local emergency managers uh language access expert um uh couple of members of community-based organizations that come together and help us build templates uh across the system so we have about 26 uh approved templates on the system now for just about every hazard that faces the state of Oregon all of them have been professionally translated into the top five languages that uh are in use in Oregon uh then those translations are looked at by native speakers of the language and adjudicated for cultural competency um but then by doing all that work one time you know that work is then shared across the system so every county every municipality every state agency every tribal government all is benefit by the work of those few people uh and and then willing to share it out so uh it's been a really collaborative effort um you know the technology lets us share the sys the the templates but um you know it's people coming together and actually doing the work that it makes the magic happen no it makes total sense well thank you for being on with me today um and just thank you for again doing everything that you do and I know it's gonna keep getting better and better for the state of Oregon.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: I hope to be there at some point doing a class or anything else we'll be up in Seattle um at the end of October.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and again I I love that area it's beautiful and just want to thank everybody for listening because this is the alerting authority the whole idea right is that we're able to help tell your story because every second has a story and we can learn from each other and continue to grow as one.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you again and we'll see you next time