Emergency Alert System National Integration Efforts and Assessments

An effective system to alert the public during emergencies can help reduce property damage and save lives. In 2004, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiated the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) with the goal of integrating the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS) and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive system. In 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on long-standing weaknesses with EAS and FEMA's limited progress in implementing IPAWS. Subsequently, FEMA and the FCC conducted the first-ever nation-wide EAS test in November 2011. This book examines recent efforts to implement IPAWS and improve EAS; how IPAWS capabilities have changed since 2009 and what barriers, if any, affect its implementation; and the results of the nation-wide EAS test and federal efforts to address identified weaknesses are discussed.