Last week, Rick and I had the pleasure of participating in a newly created working group focused on alerts and warnings for the Nashville Metro area. The meeting was initiated by our friend and colleague Stephen Guillot who runs the National Center for Emergency Preparedness at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
In attendance were representatives from a diverse, but connected community, all bound by a common interest in public warning. A mix of representatives from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), the National Weather Service, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters (TAB), and Midland Radio Corp. made for interesting presentations and discussions on the current and future state of emergency notification for the area.
We discussed AVSET weather radars, IPAWS, CMAS, the national EAS test, all-hazards radios—a wide variety of topics (and acronyms). It wasn’t a large group, but it sure was an impressive one. We were so engrossed, we ran out of time for one of the anticipated highlights—primary research conducted by Stephen Guillot for his doctoral dissertation centered around public warning (we’re dedicating the next meeting to that, and when he’s ready, hope to share some of the interesting results with our blog readers).
All of this to say, our meeting experience served to reinforce how critical and valuable it is to understand differing philosophies, coordinate ongoing efforts, and consider future plans for wide area public notifications across a community’s key stakeholders. Because of differing authorities, jurisdictions, policies, systems, etc., emergency notification can be a complex process. At times, problems or inefficiencies emerge, but little clarity surrounds who should fix them. Meetings such as this help address these problems and keep the issue of alerts and warnings top of mind. Also, new ideas rise to the surface, improving overall notification practices.
If the preparedness/response leaders in your community are not in the habit of connecting occasionally to discuss emergency notification, we highly recommend you initiate a face-to-face event like the one described here. With just a little effort, you’ll likely find yourself better informed overall, and more tightly connected to other key links in the notification chain.
Best regards,
Lorin
