Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
History
Alerting America to a Potential Disaster
"It is the policy of the United States to have an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people....and to ensure under all conditions the President can communicate with the American people."
George W. Bush, Executive Order 13407, signed June 26, 2006
The capability for the President to alert the public has existed in one form or another for more than 60 years.
History
In 2004, DHS and FEMA began a program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and public/private stakeholders to research how to use emerging communications technologies to improve public alerts and warnings to achieve a near instantaneous transmission.
On June 26, 2006, President Bush signed Executive Order 13407, directing the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to create a comprehensive Public Alert and Warning System for the United States. This presidential mandate called for an integrated alert and warning system to reach as many people as possible through as many forms of communication as possible.
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1951 - CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation (CONELRAD)
President Harry S. Truman established the first national alert system during the cold war. Selected radio stations provided public alerts via 640 kHz or 1240 kHz frequency, which were highlighted on all radios sold after 1953 with a CD (Civil Defense) mark, so people could quickly find the frequencies.
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1963 - Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)
EBS was established during the civil defense era of the 1960s to replace CONELRAD. National alerts were provided to the public via broadcast radio and television stations, allowing the President to address the nation in case of an emergency. The system was expanded, with assistance from the FCC and the National Weather Service, for use in case of state, territorial, tribal, and local emergencies. The dissemination of national alerts was mandatory for broadcasters, while state, territorial, tribal, and local alerts were voluntary.
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1994 - Emergency Alert System (EAS)
The EAS replaced EBS, adding an automated broadcast and relay function for alert messages. The EAS continues to be administered by FEMA, the FCC, and the National Weather Service. The current system allows the President to transmit a national alert within 10 minutes from any location at any time to the public via broadcast radio and TV stations, cable systems, and participating satellite TV and radio programmers.
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2006 to Present - Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
Current IPAWS projects are developing capabilities in the areas of systems integration and implementation, facilities, standards development and publication, and supporting studies. In doing so, the projects are delivering the building blocks for the new IPAWS foundation. As the IPAWS architecture and framework come together and are explained to the emergency community, manufacturers and developers will be able to design the products essential to delivering alerts and warnings to the public.
Although IPAWS is still under development, the IPAWS network currently demonstrates the following technical capabilities:
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The ability for the President to issue audio warning messages to the public in the event of an emergency, using a network of broadcast stations, cable providers, and satellite programmers
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Increasing the reach of public alerting through the incorporation of the Digital Emergency Alert System (DEAS) via radio, TV, cable, and satellite systems
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A 24 x 7 telephone broadcast capability to approximately 2,200 emergency management response nodes across the United States
Last Modified: Friday, 29-May-2009 23:59:25 EDT