Latest / The Alerting Authority / Your Emergency Alerts Aren’t Good Enough — Here’s Why - Reality Check

Transcript

Your Emergency Alerts Aren’t Good Enough — Here’s Why - Reality Check · The Alerting Authority

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody, welcome to another Alerting Authority Reality Check.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: The whole idea is there's really so much talk out there, but there hasn't been enough change.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And this is addressing specific things that need to be worked on, looked at, or just again, changed in your alerts and warning program.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's not going to be specific, hey, so-and-so agency, you're screwing up.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hope it doesn't get to that point at least.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: But we need to stop just talking about things and actually making changes.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm taking specific topics that you give me, and you're like, hey, what do you actually think about it?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: It really bugs me to hear, well, and I hear this from friends or people in this space.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, hey, I heard Eddie said this.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to go on the record and talk to you about honestly what my thoughts are regarding different topics.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they really will help your program get better.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: The one to talk about today is templates.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you may think, okay, like this is one of the most basic ones.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have templates everywhere.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, wrong, you don't.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you, as in the whole area.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: You may have individual agencies that have templates.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's fantastic.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: The follow-up question I would have is when was the last time those templates were looked at?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Have they been reviewed to see if they have all the information that make a complete message?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are there templates for your 90 characters, templates for your 360 characters, templates for your EAS, right?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The emergency alert system.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Are you going to use audio?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you going to strictly do a text-to-speech, right?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Which again, we have issues with sometimes, right?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Computers cannot get all the pronunciations for all the different roads the way that you can as a local leader.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have templates for your emails?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Templates for if you have a reverse 911 system, if you have an SMS or a push notification.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Templates are a big deal.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not even getting into the whole language thing yet, which we will in a second.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: But these are just a couple of things that bug me.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they bug so many other people out there.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And yet the ones who have the ability to change it are all of us that are in control of our different programs.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not in complete control, you can still make an impact.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And whether it's talking to an executive or anything else, and if you can't get it through to them, give them my information and we will have a fun talk.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Look, there are too many alerts out there that essentially just say the sky is falling.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is they're vague, they're not helpful, they honestly almost create more problems than they're trying to help.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just in missing endangered person alerts or MEP.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you have seen me train, you have seen that Amber Alert one that has gone up that just says GRI Toyot, which is G-R-Y, right?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then Toyot for the abbreviation for a Toyota.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's all it says.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, thank you for presenting a fantastic example of something that is absolutely useless.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it went statewide, which is a whole other thing.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, like the idea is we're supposed to be empowering people to be able to make a decision of whether or not they want to engage or if they need to engage so they can take an action, versus simply saying the sky is falling, or here, there is danger in the area.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Where?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, but in the area, be careful.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't help anybody.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're thinking to yourself, well, does this really happen?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it happens with fires, it happens with hazmat, happens with flooding, it happens with everything.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And they're just so almost utterly useless.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they don't help.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And and here's the hard part is the intentions are good.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I get it, and I appreciate people putting in their effort, but at some point, effort needs to be supported by actual competencies, right?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because what I absolutely understand is something that has happened.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and if if you've ever been in this position, let me know.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: You're sitting there in front of the computer, you're tasked with, hey, this is happening, and you're expected just to write a wonderful complete message.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one thing that um executives out there, I need you to have patience for everybody in these positions, public too, because when we train in a lab and we train in an environment where people are talking, there's donuts, there's coffee, there's whatever it is, and it's like, okay, here's the situation, go ahead and write.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's one thing.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're in the moment and you hear the chaos that is happening, you can see the video feeds, you can get all that information, and you are tasked to write something in that moment, it sucks.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is hard.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I know from experience it is hard.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, even with all of that, you can still do it and you can be very proficient and get that message and have it sound great and have it be helpful and get everything right.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can absolutely do it.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Templates are really that thing to get you to that point.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do not know a single person, and I know a lot of people in this space that can just like, okay, yeah, give me the situation, and in one minute, I can just type everything out perfectly the first time every time.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not that way.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and there are people probably much better than me, and I they are not that way either.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so why are we putting ourselves in that space?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: There are going to be enough moments in our lives in emergency alerts and warning and everything else where we may not have a perfect template.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: That stuff will happen.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not an excuse to say, well, what we don't need templates because everything is different.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's not true either.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: You should have a list of templates for hazards that are very common for your area.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If Florida, if you have a community or county in Florida that doesn't have anything to do with um, I don't know, hurricanes, I mean, that's an epic fail, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know that.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you have people in the tornado alley, I mean, if you don't have anything to do with high winds, you know, really bad storms in the northeast, anything else with snow, you should be able to come up with ideas of what you need templates of.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you need the activation template.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need an evacuation template.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need one that says, here's an update.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need a post alert one to say, okay, the danger is gone.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can go back to living your lives however it needs to be, but you can create templates.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I'm gonna get comments because it happens every time whenever I say hurricane or tornado, because people are gonna be like, well, hey, now that's the weather service.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: They do that.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is seriously just the oh, I mean, I get frustrated by the misunderstanding.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: The weather service, the National Weather Service, does send out wireless emergency alerts, um, EAS messages to your TV, radio for certain storms and and incidents.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: That is absolutely true.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: They do a good job.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, technology is getting better, but especially as you look at their tornado models, they are they are getting really good at projecting and trying to let people know what's happening.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: With all that said, they do not understand the local environment.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And they will be the first ones to say, do not rely on us to let you know what areas are going to flood.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: All we're telling you is expect a lot of rain.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: The same thing with the hurricane.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: When the hurricane's coming, it's like, yep, we're letting you know this is the path.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the high winds, the high water, all those other things that are associated with a hurricane, it's up to the local emergency manager, local alerting authority to let people know you got to get out of this campground.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: You got to seek higher ground if you're in this community because that's low.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or we got to do whatever it is.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Here are the shelters.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: The National Weather Service, that is not their job.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So step up and do yours, right?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh when I see people just do the cut and paste and they call that a template from the weather service, that is absolutely incorrect to you.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: You need to stop.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are over those programs, fix it.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that that is not the way to do it.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: You need to come up with templates to provide all this wonderful information.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is called a complete message.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: It has the source.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: What's actually happening?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Where it's happening, when it's happening, what does it actually mean for people?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: What can it do?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Guidance, what are they supposed to do?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then where can they go for more information?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you have templates done that have almost all of that input, because you should be able to come up with it, say, hey, we have one for hazardous materials.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have uh hazardous materials when we are going to ask people to go inside and stay inside, right?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: The shelter in place, but go inside.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have one when we need them to leave their homes immediately.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have another one for rapid flooding for an area that says we need you to immediately leave and seek higher ground.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have another one to say you can go back.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can truly come up with templates and they're going to stack up.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you look at all the hazards that are likely to hit your area, whether they have hit recently or likely to hit at some point, you should be prepared.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do not continue to be like those people who are surprised by Christmas every year.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: At some point, your public is going to expect you to get this stuff right.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: You should, and again, welcome to 2026.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: This information has been out.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: The research is out.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're thinking to yourself, well, Eddie, hey, this is great.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: We've actually got it.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: We don't include this.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's absolutely wrong.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: You need to include this.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: There is actual research.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: When I was sending out alerts, we did not have all of this information.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: I wish we did.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: We would have written our alerts completely a lot different.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we did the best we could, just like I know a lot of people are.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: But to have this at your fingertips, to have the research that says this is how you're supposed to write it, and then to choose not to follow it, I mean, that's pretty bad.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I understand you're busy.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I say that, having worked graveyard swings, all those different things for years, I get it.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: But that is not an excuse to not have templates.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, freaking steal them from another agency.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: But get them done and then make them applicable to you and your community.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: These are not things that need to be rocket science.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: I will say that IPAUS, which is under FEMA, they have something that's called a message design dashboard.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it is 100% free.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: You can go and you can get an account.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: You can register and say, I need help with my templates.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it has all the different hazards there.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: It walks you through step by step and provides you essentially with templates that you can cut and paste, you can save into a different file, you can save them there.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: The whole idea is you have it at your fingertips.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Use it.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I it's very frustrating to look on PBS Warren or any other site that you have.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh if you're looking and seeing the different alerts that are going out that are so bad.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's, it's, it doesn't even list the source.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's just saying, hey, expect flooding in your area.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: That tells you nothing.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, people are gonna be like, well, it says that there's flooding, but but where?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: How do I really know that I am the one involved?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: When is it gonna happen?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Should I leave the house?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, do I need to evacuate?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where, like, give me more information.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Where can I go to get more information?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: We we need to do better as a culture with emergency alerts and warnings.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the time is, well, way past.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're not there, the time is now.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because we are gonna be less forgiving when we see your messages, because I I don't know what else to do.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But your community deserves more, and I want to be there to help you.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're not going to make those changes, then I'm gonna call it out, right?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Calling balls and strikes is a real thing.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what the reality check is all about.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the last thing I want to hit for templates.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: I hope people know that English is not the only language spoken in the United States, right?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you can call it our official language, and that's absolutely wonderful.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: But when an emergency is happening, I need to get information to people in a way that they can consume it.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So just like the graphic says there are over 350 languages spoken in U.S.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: homes according to the census.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you may not have 350 in your area, but you probably have over a dozen.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are you doing to help members of your community actually understand what it is you're asking them to do?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if your answer is, well, I send it in English, what else is there?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I mean, seriously, think about it.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you have people, let's say they've immigrated here, they've become a U.S.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: citizen, they've done everything they're supposed to do, English is still a second language to them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if in the moment when a tragedy, some disaster is happening, you expect them to understand the jargon of English in a critical way to make an important decision rapidly, I mean, we're honestly just not doing our job.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: If we have visitors, tourists, everybody else who's here, I mean, there are some gorgeous cities and places to visit across the United States.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Does everybody know English who is a visitor?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And do you have a responsibility to help them?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Of course you do.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: The cool part about templates is you can make them like 90% complete, 95, 98% complete, where all you may need to input is a date, a time.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: You may need to put a specific location, but everything else is done.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can get those translated in advance before your emergency, so that as you're pushing out information in English, you can make sure those other languages are also available for people who need them in their language.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: It does go back to policy, it goes back to so many other things, and a lot of things interconnect.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: But the one today is templates.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you are forced to write that message in that moment, just like you saw in that picture, and they're just like typing, trying to get it all right, how likely do you think it is that you will have the same information in Spanish and every other language that exists?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: How about American Sign Language?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna have it or not?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So chances are low.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and honestly, it's it it's gotta be frustrating.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know it's frustrating for your community, or have they come to expect that?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we need to get to a point where you can have this.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think gone truly is the time when you can stand in front of a camera and say, Well, um, I put together a message that said everybody should be, you know, concerned because we have a lot of rain, so be safe.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: I would not be surprised if you're fired at this point, because again, the resources are available.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the resources I've talked to you about for the message design dashboard are free.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, when it comes to translations, work within your agencies.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you aren't sure how to do it, go to your county.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: If your county's not sure, go to your state.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, there are resources available, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel every single time.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's what the whole thing with sharing and neighbors and all that fun stuff is.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Last point, and we're gonna end this for right now for the reality check.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Key points about templates.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are not an option.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: You need templates.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do not put yourself in that position to sit there and try to write it in that moment.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there will not be, and this is one of those caveats, right?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, I see the feedback that I get from these.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is not probable that you are going to create a template for every single situation.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely get it.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: But for all the ones that you can expect, it's one of those, uh Gordon Graham, um, a famous guy, um, especially within the California Patrol and in leadership, says predictable is preventable.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you can predict which disasters, hazards, and things that may impact your area, then you can put yourself in a state to be prepared or as prepared as possible for those.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, number two, pre-approved information.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the coolest parts about a template is you don't have to go up the chain 50 times.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I say up the chain, it's truly up, back, down, because they want to correct a word, back up and down, and so on.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: We we know in advance what information is going to be okay to say.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And again, each agency may be a little different.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: I get it, but you'll have something there that is ready to go.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the last one, which is uh growing more and more, these are translation friendly.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we can translate them in a time of peace, a blue sky moment, as it said, so that everyone in your community can receive the information.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, again, there's a lot of cool things happening with translation.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is to the point now where you can no no longer say, I'm only sending it in English.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: We need to do better.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And beyond that, your community needs to do better.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I just go back to the basic questions of what percentage of your population that you're representing, and and again, if you're just one of the public who are listening to this, deserves to get critical information to make a decision to save their own life or of their families.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is 100%.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to look at this a little differently to provide realistic, practical, and complete messages for not only the public that speaks English, but for everybody else.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is your reality check.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope if you are listening to this and you do not have a good idea of what templates you have or when they were last checked, and if they don't have everything, I hope you're saying to yourself, I am going to take the action now so we don't send out like bad messages anymore.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Make that decision today and start that process today.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have templates at all, start today.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Start with one hazard and then go for two and so on.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you are like freaking Eddie, like I have 50 templates for everything, that's fantastic.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you're a unicorn, great, right?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Go back and check them again because there is research coming out all the time.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, one of the people you know I work with the most, Dr.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jeanette Sutton.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's her website, which is warnroom.com.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, please go and look because she updates with all the different research, and then we actually try to put it on the podcast too, as more stuff comes out so that you can do it.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is not one of those things that you can check every five years.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, make it a priority, help your community.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: We are there for you.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and again, I know we talk kind of harsh sometimes, and that may be what I'm doing now, but really, this is the reality check.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is time to get better.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have any other questions, comments, topics you want me to cover, please reach out.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this is Eddie Bertola with the Alerting Authority, and I am one of you trying to make everybody better, and I appreciate your support.