Emergency Alert System needs organizational oversight to help with effectiveness through public/private partnership report finds

| 04.02.2007 | 07:43:437891 |

April 2 '07: According to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office, the Emergency Alert System's primary actors - the media and the federal government - need to find a way to improve and integrate the system to help it become more effective in alerting the public during times of national emergency.

In the report, the GAO cited several instances where software and equipment failures coupled with deficient personnel training and broadcast procedures to hamper emergency response alert messages. Though efforts underway to correct these problems continue, "Coordination and collaboration among a variety of stakeholders will be critical to ensure that all elements of the system can work together and produce accurate, timely alerts for all Americans."

It was last year that the EAS was revamped by the Bush administration through an executive order. White House officials said the system was outdated and needed to modernize its capabilities.

Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has instituted a public private partnership pilot - the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to manage the Digital Emergency Alert System which "uses the digital capabilities of the nation's public television stations to provide public alerts," the GAO report found.

It will be necessary to integrate fully the various media of terrestrial and satellite radio, digital television and satellite television in order to create a fully effective system, the report said.