Emergency Communications

In efforts to strengthen emergency communications, the FCC released a Noticed of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) In the Matter of Improving Wireless Emergency Alerts and Community Initiated Alerting [PS Docket No. 15-91].  Some of the main issues on which the NPRM is seeking stakeholder input include:

August 2015 - There are several steps to prepare your mobile device in case of an emergency. One of the most basic is making sure there are a set of emergency contacts easily accessible on your device. This means ensuring that your contacts are saved to the device and to the SIM card.  Various apps are also available for an array of functions such as first aid information, emergency shelter locations, and geographical emergency alerts. It is also always a good idea to have power backup strategies in case a situation where the power goes out.

A workshop, held by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and the Consumer and the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, is promoting the wider use and increased accessibility of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). On Thursday, August 27, 2015 from 1:00pm to 4:30pm learn how to improve the usefulness of the EAS for emergency managers at the state and local levels and how to improve the accessibility of alerts to people with disabilities.

On June 30, 2015, Wireless RERC researchers Salimah LaForce and DeeDee Bennett, PhD presented results of the 2014 Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) Survey and a Survey of Alert Originators Use of WEA at a webinar hosted by the Georgia Emergency Preparedness Coalition for Individuals with Disabilities and Older Adults. WEAs are a component of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

Please join us for a FREE Webinar entitled:

Reaching People with Disabilities:

Wireless Emergency Alerting and Accessibility

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST

This webinar will have captioning and a sign language interpreter.