Emergency Broadcast System (EAS) 

Fact SheetFact Sheet 

The EAS started as the Emergency Broadcast System in 1944 to provide the public accurate and 
timely information during emergencies. Through the major television networks and radio stations, the 
government could send an electronic warning to their audiences. The Emergency Broadcast System 
was updated in 1994, to expand the transmission means from tone-alert to any means of 
transmission, and became known as the Emergency Alert System. The EAS is still designed to act 
as a national warning system in case of major public emergencies. The EAS is jointly administered 
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC), and the National Weather Service (NWS). While a presidential EAS has never been 
activated, this system provides the President with the means to address the American people within 
10 minutes of a national emergency. Authorized state and local emergency management personnel 
can also use the EAS to alert residents in affected areas. 

 

The EAS has the ability to monitor the National Weather Service and rebroadcast emergency 
weather alerts. Emergency event alerts have been expanded from being mostly weather-related to 
include such things as: 

 

AMBER Alerts for missing and endangered children in most states. To raise public awareness and 
to ensure the system works effectively, tests are regularly conducted via broadcast stations, radio, 
cable, and wireless cable systems. 

 

The Future of EAS 

Today as media consumption patterns change and the use of mobile devices such as cell phones 
and personal digital assistants increases, EAS is being redefined. On June 26, 2006, President 
Bush signed Executive Order 13407 directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create 
a comprehensive Public Alert and Warning System for the United States. FEMA was directed to lead 
the effort and is now creating a set of technologies, called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 
System (IPAWS), which will render an alert message to enhanced and additional forms of media. 

 

Digital Emergency Alert System (DEAS) 

The Digital Emergency Alert System (DEAS) is an IPAWS pilot program that uses the digital 
capabilities of public television stations to provide alerts. This system would allow the transmission 
of emergency alerts directly to citizens and responders without the need for a special receiver, 
providing quicker and more seamless transmission. These alerts would be sent 

to users of computers, mobile phones, pagers, and other devices. Upgrades associated with the 
DEAS program include providing equipment to all public television stations across the United States 
to enable them to disseminate DEAS messages through their digital television broadcasts. 

In addition, there are ongoing DEAS pilot programs that can originate alerts and warnings using the 
Common Alerting Protocol and then disseminate them using the public television station digital 
broadcasts. 
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work 
together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, 
recover from, and mitigate all hazards.